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Iranian president denies Iran is a threat to US in letter to America
April 2, 2026, 6:31 p.m. ETIranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote an open letter to Americans denying his country is a threat.Pezeshkian's letter came hours before President Trump threatened to bring Iran "back to the Stone Ages."The Iranian president accused the U.S. of being a "proxy for Israel" and urged Americans to question the Trump administration.Some foreign policy experts believe Pezeshkian's words will carry much weight as the war continues.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denied that his nation is posing a threat to the U.S. in an open letter, and defended Iran's actions in the ongoing war, citing it as "legitimate self-defense."In the translated four-page letter posted on X addressed to the "people of the United States" on April 1, Pezeshkian wrote that the Iranian people "harbor no enmity toward other nations, including the people of America, Europe, or neighboring countries.""This is a deeply rooted principle in Iranian culture and collective consciousness – not a temporary political stance," Pezeshkian said. "For this reason, portraying Iran as a threat is neither consistent with historical reality nor with present-day observable facts."Pezeshkian's letter came hours before President Donald Trump threatened that the U.S. would bring Iran "back to the Stone Ages where they belong" while making another case publicly for the war on Iran during a primetime address. While his speech did not reveal any major updates regarding the war, Trump reiterated his stance that the administration's goal is to ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. The president also did not give a timeframe for when the war would end, after saying on March 31 that it could conclude in "two weeks, maybe three."In his letter, Pezeshkian also accused the U.S. of being a "proxy for Israel," and said the U.S. launched "two acts of aggression" during negotiations to end the war. He encouraged Americans to question the Trump administration's claims about Iran.Additionally, Pezeshkian said the war is further damaging the "global standing" of the United States. The notion of Iran as a threat is 'invented'Pezeshkian noted that the perception of Iran as a danger was invented. The Iranian president said that notion is "the product of political and economic whims of the powerful — the need to manufacture an enemy in order to justify pressure, maintain military dominance, sustain the arms industry, and control strategic markets. "In such an environment, if a threat does not exi...
The Iranian Opposition's Urgent Task - The Atlantic
The Iranian opposition has never lacked for a common enemy. The Islamic Republic has furnished no end of shared grievances, frustrated hopes, and collective traumas. And yet, its adversaries have long sorted themselves into mutually hostile subgroups. Now the deepest rupture is between those who support former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi as a transitional figure and those who oppose him.Perversely, this division might prove to be the one that heals.Last Saturday, in Grapevine, Texas, Pahlavi spoke to throngs of his supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Iranians made up a large proportion of CPAC attendees this year, and they greeted Pahlavi with passionate cheers.In his speech, Pahlavi pledged to lead a transition to a “free and democratic Iran.” He called on President Trump to continue the American-Israeli military operation against Iran, in the hope of displacing a regime he decried for placing a “sea of blood” between itself and its people. “President Trump is making America great again,” he concluded. “I intend to make Iran great again.”Arash Azizi: The ‘existential anxiety’ of the Islamic RepublicPahlavi’s star turn in Texas showcased both the appeal and the limitations of his project.He rallied an impressive number of supporters, who shouted his name at CPAC just as their counterparts did in street demonstrations in Iran. But his unbridled support for the war and his chumminess with the American right have made him a polarizing figure among Iranians. Worse, the American president he praised and beseeched has shown little trust in Pahlavi and seems much more interested in dealing with the current leadership in Tehran.The day of Pahlavi’s CPAC speech, I was in London, where about 400 Iranians who opposed the regime but were skeptical of Pahlavi had gathered for the launch of something called the Iran Freedom Congress. The groups represented in London had spent years in bitter arguments with one another. The task of the congress was to explore the possibility of building a shared political vehicle.In the two decades I have spent observing and participating in Iranian opposition politics, I had never seen a meeting so broadly representative as the one in London. Perhaps that was in part because the event’s main organizer was not himself a member of any one diaspora activist group; rather, he was a tech entrepreneur and former World Bank analyst named Majid Zamani, who had spent more than five months in prison for supporting street pro...
US-Iran tensions - South China Morning Post
The latest news, analysis and opinion on US-Iran tensions. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Iran currently unwilling to negotiate end to war, US intelligence ...
According to assessments conducted by multiple US intelligence agencies, the Iranian regime believes it is in a strong enough position to continue the war and not cede to US demands.
