Pezeshkian’s letter

AWAY from the actual battlefield, a war of narratives is underway between the US and Iran. While both sides claim victories in the field and downplay losses — as is expected during wartime — there is a noticeable difference in the manner in which the leaders of the two nations talk to each other and to the rest of the world. One prominent example of this was the US president’s recent threat-laden speech on Iran, which followed his Iranian counterpart’s measured letter to the American people. The former was a crude mishmash of threats and provocations, while the latter was a logically argued defence of the Iranian position. While Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age”, Masoud Pezeshkian, in his epistle “to the people” of the US, emphasised that Iran bore “no enmity towards other nations”, including the American people, and was only defending itself against foreign aggression. Mr Pezeshkian also questioned Israel’s chokehold on the American political system, saying that the Zionist state wanted to “fight Iran to the last American soldier and the last American taxpayer dollar”. He ended his letter by stating that Iran had “outlasted many aggressors”.

Mr Pezeshkian’s mature defence of his country’s position echoes the attempt made by an earlier president Muhammad Khatami to defuse confrontation between Iran and the West, and start afresh based on mutual respect. While addressing the UN in 1998, Mr Khatami had called for a ‘dialogue among civilisations’ that could lead to ‘the realisation of universal justice and liberty’. Sadly, overtures like these have on most occasions received a cold response from various US administrations. The current administration’s narrative towards Iran is particularly coarse and pugnacious, combining invective and dubious justifications for aggression. It shows that Mr Trump and his inner circle are not interested in a peaceful settlement with Iran, even as their military aggression against the Islamic Republic has trapped them in a quagmire. Even US allies have noted Mr Trump’s penchant for reckless talk. French President Emmanuel Macron advised his US counterpart to “be serious” and avoid “speaking every day”. While expecting Mr Trump to make a sudden transformation towards statesmanship is a long shot, the American people — the majority of whom oppose this war — need to put more pressure on their rulers and lawmakers to end hostilities immediately.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2026

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