Iranian President Pezeshkian writes to the American people: Iran has never started a war.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian published an open letter to the American people on Wednesday, calling on the American people to step beyond political talking points and to reassess Iran’s past, present, and vision for the future—Iran’s future should not be defined by confrontation, but instead built on truth, dignity, and mutual understanding. In the letter, the president said that in a world saturated with competing narratives and deep geopolitical tensions, the U.S.-Iran relationship remains one of the most misunderstood bilateral relationships. He emphasized that in modern history, Iran has never chosen a path of aggression, expansion, colonization, or hegemony, nor has it ever initiated any war.

The full text of the letter is as follows:

In the name of the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful God

To the people of the United States of America, and to all those who, amid overwhelming waves of distorted and deliberately fabricated narratives, continue to seek the truth and aspire to a better life:

Iran, in its name, its character, and its identity, is one of the oldest continuously enduring civilizations in human history. Despite possessing geopolitical and historical advantages during different periods, in modern history Iran has never chosen a path of aggression, expansion, colonization, or hegemony. Even after suffering occupation, invasion, and long-term pressure from great powers—even if its military strength has been greater than that of many neighboring countries—Iran has never taken the initiative to spark war, but has always steadfastly and courageously repelled every invader.

The Iranian people have no hostility toward other countries, including the people of the United States, Europe, and neighboring nations. In their proud history, even though they have repeatedly faced external interference and pressure, the Iranian people have always clearly distinguished between governments and the public. This is a principle deeply rooted in Iranian culture and collective awareness, not a temporary political posture.

For this reason, portraying Iran as a threat neither conforms to historical facts nor does it match the reality that can be observed today. This understanding is entirely the product of power serving political and economic self-interest—they need to manufacture an enemy in order to apply pressure, maintain military hegemony, support the military-industrial sector, and find pretexts to control strategic markets. Under this logic, even if a threat does not exist, it will be invented out of thin air.

Under the same logic, the United States has assembled the largest scale of troops, military bases, and operational capabilities around Iran, while Iran has never initiated a war on its own since the United States was founded. The aggressive acts recently launched by U.S. forces from these bases have clearly exposed the threat posed by this military presence. Any country in such a situation would naturally strengthen its own defensive capabilities. Everything Iran has done in the past and in the present is a proportionate response based on legitimate self-defense—not an initiation of war or the implementation of aggression.

The U.S.-Iran relationship is not inherently antagonistic, and there was no hostility or conflict in the early exchanges between the two peoples. The turning point was the 1953 coup d’état—the illegal interference carried out by the United States to prevent the nationalization of Iran’s domestic resources. This coup disrupted Iran’s democratic process, restored authoritarian rule, and planted deep mistrust of U.S. policies in the hearts of the Iranian people. After that, the United States supported the Pahlavi regime, backed Saddam during the Iran–Iraq War, imposed the longest and most comprehensive sanctions in modern history, and ultimately even launched baseless military aggression against Iran twice during negotiations—each of these contributed to deepening mistrust.

But all this pressure has failed to weaken Iran. On the contrary, Iran has become stronger in many areas: literacy rates have tripled, rising from about 30% before the Islamic Revolution to more than 90% today; higher education has expanded significantly; major breakthroughs have been achieved in modern technology; medical services have continued to improve; and the speed and scale of infrastructure development far exceed those of the past. These are measurable and verifiable facts that are not swayed by false narratives.

At the same time, the destructive and inhumane impact that sanctions, war, and aggression have had on the lives of resilient Iranian people must never be underestimated. Ongoing military aggression and recent bombing have profoundly affected people’s lives, mindset, and perceptions. This is a basic human truth: when war causes irreparable harm to lives, homes, cities, and the future, people will never be indifferent to the perpetrators of violence.

This leads to a fundamental question: which interests of the American people has this war actually been protecting? Does Iran have an objective threat sufficient to serve as a pretext for such actions? Beyond further damaging the United States’ international standing, is there any point in massacring innocent children, destroying pharmaceutical facilities for cancer treatment, or threatening to blow a country back to the Stone Age?

Iran has actively promoted negotiations, reached agreements, and fulfilled all commitments. The U.S. government chose to withdraw from the agreement, escalate confrontation, and launched aggression twice during negotiations—decisions that are destructive, made solely to satisfy the delusional ambitions of an external aggressor.

Attacks on Iran—including key infrastructure such as energy and industrial facilities—target the Iranian people directly. Such actions not only constitute war crimes, but their effects will go far beyond Iran’s borders, triggering regional instability, increasing humanitarian and economic losses, perpetuating a cycle of heightened tensions, and planting seeds of hatred that will persist for years. This is absolutely not a display of strength, but instead a manifestation of strategic confusion and helplessness in seeking sustainable solutions.

Isn’t the United States precisely getting drawn into this aggression in the role of Israel’s proxy—being manipulated and steered by Israel? Isn’t Israel fabricating an Iranian threat in order to divert international attention away from its atrocities against the Palestinian people? Isn’t it obvious that Israel is now trying to fight all the way to the last American soldier, the last U.S. dollar of American taxpayers’ money, shifting the price of its delusional ambitions onto Iran, the region, and even the United States itself for its illegal interests?

“America First” is really the priority of the U.S. government today?

I urge you to step out of the false propaganda machinery that is part of the aggression, and to talk with people who have visited Iran. Look at those outstanding Iranian diaspora immigrants who received education in Iran, who now teach and conduct research at the world’s top universities, and who contribute to Western frontier technology companies. Do these realities match the distorted descriptions of Iran and its people that you have been fed?

The world today is at a crossroads. If we keep walking down the path of confrontation, the cost will be higher than ever, and it will be even more futile and useless. The choice between confrontation and engagement is real and momentous, and its outcomes will affect the future of generations. Through thousands of years of proud history, Iran has endured countless aggressors. Today they leave behind only names that have been stigmatized in history, while Iran still stands—resilient, dignified, proud.

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责任编辑：李桐