Iranian President Addresses American Public: Accuses U.S. of Acting as Israel's Proxy and Questions U.S. Interests

On April 2, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian published an open letter to the American public on the X platform, criticizing U.S. military actions against Iran as essentially acting as a ‘proxy’ for Israel, and questioning whether the ‘America First’ policy truly serves U.S. national interests. In the letter, Pezeshkian emphasized that Iran holds ‘no hostility’ towards the American people and stated that portraying Iran as a threat is neither historically nor realistically accurate. He asserted that Iran has never initiated a war, with its military actions being ‘legitimate self-defense.’ Regarding historical issues, Pezeshkian referenced the 1953 Iranian coup, stating that it disrupted Iran’s democratic process and intensified Iranian society’s distrust of the U.S.; he also criticized the long-standing U.S. sanctions and the support for Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War. Pezeshkian further accused the U.S. of recent strikes on Iran’s critical infrastructure as ‘war crimes’ and warned that such actions would exacerbate regional instability and increase global economic and security risks. In the letter, he repeatedly named Israel, claiming it uses the ‘Iran threat’ to divert international attention from the Palestinian issue and attempts to ‘have the U.S. fight to the last soldier and exhaust the last penny.’ Pezeshkian urged the American public to examine the sources of current policy information, reassess their understanding of Iran, and warned that ongoing confrontation will have profound implications for future generations.