Putri Anggraini
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has issued a direct public appeal to the American people, arguing that the Trump administration must be replaced and that U.S. voters should reclaim control of their government from what it describes as a corrupt political class. The message, released as a lengthy open letter on Tuesday, represents one of Tehran's most explicit attempts yet to intervene in American political discourse, arriving just five weeks before the U.S. midterm elections.
The letter was published one day after the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran reached its seven-month mark, a milestone that has reshaped the strategic landscape of the Middle East and injected new volatility into American domestic politics. Addressing itself to "the honorable people of the United States of America," the document contends that the current political moment—which it characterizes as a period of maximum American weakness—offers a rare opening for citizens to demand change.
Central to the IRGC's argument is the claim that President Donald Trump has systematically misled the American public about the war's progress, the status of Iran's nuclear program, and the question of who effectively controls the Strait of Hormuz. The letter asserts that Iran has emerged victorious from the conflict, pointing to what it says is Washington's failure to accomplish any of its stated military objectives.
According to the IRGC's account, the United States and Israel have expended thousands of bombs and missiles against Iranian territory, targeting government buildings, residential areas, dozens of lower-tier weapons manufacturing sites, and several decommissioned military installations. Despite that scale of bombardment, the letter argues, the campaign has done little beyond damaging some structures connected to Iran's nuclear industry and a limited number of air-defense positions. None of the declared goals, it claims, have been realized.
The letter takes pains to separate the American government from the American people, a rhetorical strategy designed to build sympathy among U.S. voters rather than antagonize them. It draws an explicit parallel between the grievances of ordinary Iranians and those of American citizens, describing both populations as victims of corrupt politicians in the White House and stating that the two nations share the same pain.
This is not Iran's first effort to communicate directly with an American audience. Since the war began on February 28, Iran-linked media outlets and online networks have produced AI-generated Lego-themed videos, memes, and other short-form English-language content aimed at promoting Tehran's narrative about the conflict. These efforts reflect a broader strategy of using social media and digital tools to bypass traditional diplomatic channels and speak directly to U.S. voters.
The IRGC letter also attempts to reinterpret the controversial "Death to America" slogan frequently chanted at Iranian political rallies, insisting that the phrase is directed at the American political establishment rather than the American people. In the letter's framing, the slogan constitutes a prayer for the removal of a diabolical ruling elite whose center of power is the White House—an interpretation that U.S. officials have long rejected as disingenuous.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi reinforced the letter's themes, calling Trump an inveterate liar who has told Americans big lies during his time in office. Mohebbi argued that the American public remains largely unaware of the damage caused by the administration's war campaign, suggesting that if citizens fully understood the reality on the ground, they would think differently and would pressure their government to change course.
Al Jazeera contacted the White House for comment on the IRGC's statements but had not received a response by the time the article was published. The silence underscores the delicate position the administration finds itself in as it balances military escalation with diplomatic efforts and domestic political pressures ahead of the midterms.
Trump has consistently justified the war by citing the threat of Iranian nuclear weapons, a rationale that Tehran rejects. Iran maintains that it is not pursuing a nuclear bomb and has accused the president of lying about its uranium enrichment activities, which Iranian officials say are intended solely for civilian energy purposes. Mohebbi reiterated this position on Tuesday, stating that the enemy knows Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons.
The IRGC spokesperson also challenged American claims that Iran's leverage over the Strait of Hormuz has been substantially degraded. He conceded that U.S. forces might manage to sneak a small vessel through the waterway under cover of darkness, but at considerable expense, difficulty, and risk—and he insisted that such isolated transits do not mean the strait is open. Since the war began, Iran has restricted traffic through the chokepoint, prompting the United States to impose a blockade in response.
Data from Kpler, a trade analytics firm, nevertheless indicates that oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz have been recovering, averaging roughly 13.2 million barrels per day over the past week—about 77 percent of their pre-war level. Trump has repeatedly claimed that Iran is losing badly and recently dismissed an Iranian proposal to reopen the strait as unacceptable.
Diplomatic activity has continued even as rhetoric intensifies. U.S. and Iranian officials both met separately with mediators on Monday as part of renewed efforts to bring the war to a close, and Tehran stated a day earlier that diplomacy represents the only viable path to resolving the conflict. Yet Trump's address to the United Nations General Assembly last week struck a markedly different tone, as he openly weighed whether to annihilate Iran, describing it as a big decision and contrasting a potential deal that would allow Iran to rebuild with a rapid military destruction of the Islamic Republic.
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