*Parliamentary Commission Security Chief Mocks US Leader
*Israel Kills Hezbollah Commander In Lebanon
*Death Toll Mounts
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday rallied the American people against President Donald Trump, who has been facing mass demonstrations in the US over the war on Iran and associated matters.
Pezeshkian posted a letter to Americans on his X account.
He wrote that his country has no ‘enmity’ for the American people.
In his letter to Americans, Pezeshkian laid out the longstanding, historical grievances behind Tehran’s distrust of Washington, with a turning point being the 1953 coup d’état, which he described as “an illegal American intervention aimed at preventing the nationalisation of Iran’s own resources.”
People&Politics recalls that on 19 August 1953, the then Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh, was overthrown in a coup d’état that strengthened the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the monarchical Shah of Iran.
The coup was planned by the United Kingdom secret service MI6, under the name Operation Boot and the United States CIA, under the name TP-AJAX Project or Operation Ajax.
A principal motive was to protect British oil interests in Iran after Mosaddegh nationalized the country’s oil industry, thus plunging UK and US firms which had dominated the industry into serious losses.
Relations before that “were not originally hostile, and early interactions between the Iranian and American people were not marred with hostility or tension,” Pezeshkian noted.
He said that distrust “deepened further” through US support for the Shah, backing of Saddam Hussein, sweeping “inhumane” sanctions and, most recently, “unprovoked military aggression – twice, in the midst of negotiations, against Iran.”
He then stressed that there was a distinction between the US government and the people of the US – with ordinary Americans, Europeans, and other countries not viewed as enemies by Iran, despite decades of hostility.
“The Iranian people harbor no enmity toward other nations, including the people of America, Europe, or neighbouring countries; attacks on Iran’s infrastructure, targeting of our people, have consequences beyond the country’s border. What we do in response is based on the legitimate right of self-defense, not an act of aggression.
“Even in the face of repeated foreign interventions and pressures throughout their proud history, Iranians have consistently drawn a clear distinction between governments and the peoples they govern. This is a deeply rooted principle in Iranian culture and collective consciousness — not a temporary political stance,” he stated.
Israel Using US To Fight Its War, He Claims
Pezeshkian also questioned whether the US was putting “America first” with its war on Iran, or if it was acting as a “proxy” for Israel.
His words: “Is it not also the case that America has entered this aggression as a proxy for Israel, influenced and manipulated by that regime?
“Is it not evident that Israel now aims to fight Iran to the last American soldier and the last American taxpayer dollar — shifting the burden of its delusions onto Iran, the region, and the United States itself in pursuit of illegitimate interests?”
Iran’s Parliamentary Security Chair Mocks Trump
On his part, the Chair of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Commission, Ebrahim Azizi, mocked Trump for his boasts of having achieved regime change in Iran.
Posting on X, Azizi wrote: “Trump has finally achieved his dream of ‘regime change’ – but in the region’s maritime regime!
“The strait of Hormuz will certainly reopen, but not for you; it will be open for those who comply with the new laws of Iran.”
Iran Demands Guaranteed Permanent Ceasefire -Source
Iran has demanded a guaranteed ceasefire to end the war permanently, a senior Iranian source told Reuters, while continuing to insist active negotiations are not currently taking place.
The source said intermediaries contacted Iran on Tuesday, with discussions focused on continuing diplomacy, but added that no talks have taken place via mediators for a temporary ceasefire.
Irrespective of goings-on beneath, Iran rejected Trump’s claim that its leadership asked for a ceasefire, calling the US President’s statement “false” and “baseless.”
Trump had made the claim in a post on Truth Social, which said: “Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE! We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!”
The “New Regime President” he referred to is Pezeshkian.
Israel Kills Hezbollah Leader In Lebanon, Death Toll Rises
At least 1,900 people have been killed and 20,000 injured in Iran since the start of the war, according to estimates from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, though precise figures are hard to come by.
An Israeli Navy strike on Beirut, the Lebanese capital, killed seven people including Youssef Hashem, the Commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, the most senior leader of the Iranian proxy group to have been killed since the start of the war.
Israel’s military said Hashem had more than 40 years’ experience and his death would be “a significant blow” to Hezbollah’s efforts to resist Israel’s plans to occupy southern Lebanon in a rapidly escalating ground campaign.
Hezbollah officials acknowledged his death, describing him as a “beacon of the Islamic Resistance” and “a tier one Commander,” one of the most high profile casualties in a conflict that has killed 1,260 people in Lebanon.
Most of those who have died have been Lebanese civilians, but Hezbollah estimated about 400 had been its fighters.
Israel said 10 of its soldiers had been killed since 2 March when fighting broke out on the Lebanese front.
In Israel, an 11-year-old girl was in critical condition after being wounded by shrapnel to her limbs, the country’s emergency medical service reported, after a missile strike at Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv. It also said 13 others were less seriously wounded.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Trump (l) and Pezeshkian.
