MM Report
TEHRAN: In an unusual attempt to bypass official channels and speak directly to ordinary citizens, Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, addressed an open letter to the American public on Wednesday, casting fresh doubt on the rationale behind the ongoing military campaign led by United States and Israel against Tehran.
The letter, expansive in tone and historical in scope, appeared to have been crafted as both a defence of Iran’s conduct and a critique of Washington’s long-standing foreign policy in the region. Writing in measured but pointed language, Pezeshkian sought to challenge the prevailing narrative that has framed Iran as a destabilizing force, arguing instead that the country’s military posture has been shaped by necessity rather than ambition.
He traced tensions between Tehran and Washington back to the 1953 Iranian coup d’état, describing it as the moment that ruptured what had once been relatively untroubled relations. In his account, decades of mistrust were rooted not only in that intervention but also in subsequent US support for the Shah and its alignment with Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, as well as the imposition of sweeping sanctions that have shaped Iran’s modern economy.
Pezeshkian insisted that Iran had not initiated conflict in its contemporary history, presenting the country’s recent military actions as a calibrated response to external threats. He argued that the heavy concentration of American military assets in the region had itself contributed to instability, forcing Iran to strengthen its defensive capabilities. In this telling, the presence of US forces encircling Iran was not a deterrent but a provocation.
