IRGC's Sept. 29, 2026 open letter to the American people

Case

On Sept. 29, 2026, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a 25-page open letter addressed directly to Americans, weeks before the U.S. midterms. It declares Iran the victor in the war that began Feb. 28, accuses Trump of lying and of enriching himself, and urges Americans to "stop their government": close overseas bases, end aid to Israel, and vote out "corrupt politicians." It is a state-military propaganda document. Its demands echo themes elsewhere in this project, but its factual claims are the IRGC's own, and several are disputed or unsupported.

What the letter is (Sept. 29, 2026)
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) released the open letter on Sept. 29, 2026. Its spokesman, Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, presented it at a press briefing in Tehran. It is addressed to "the honorable people of the United States of America," naming scholars, students and members of the media.
Coverage describes it as about 25 pages (some outlets say 26). It came weeks before the November midterms. Mohebbi said it was not meant to sway the Trump administration but to reach American voters, and that the aim went beyond media publicity.
It is not Iran's first direct appeal to Americans: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian published an open letter to the American public in April 2026, according to TIME.
The text circulating on social media as "Iran's letter to American citizens" is the closing section of this letter. Its wording matches the full text published by Tehran Times.

What the letter asks of Americans
The letter says "People all around the world are looking to Americans to stop their government," and urges Americans to rise up, "wrest control back from corrupt politicians," and use their votes to change the government.
Its specific demands: shut down about 800 overseas U.S. bases and bring all service members home; end aid to Israel; avoid new wars; close the media outlets and intelligence networks it says are used to instigate coups, support dictators and sow unrest; and redirect that money to scientific research and high-tech manufacturing, which it says would restore a prosperous American economy.
It also urges Americans to force their government to distance itself from Israel, saying the "occupiers of Palestine" will eventually have to leave and return to their countries of origin, and to elect lawmakers who will hold the government accountable for the deaths of 400 Iranian children. That is the letter's own count of children killed in the war; it puts the Minab school deaths at 168.
The letter says the chant "Death to America" is aimed at the U.S. ruling elite and not at the American people, and that Iran's hostility is directed at the U.S. government, not Americans.
It closes with religious language: the authors say they await the return of Jesus and Imam Mahdi and want Americans to stand with Iran.

Claims in the letter, and what the record shows
Military victory and the Strait of Hormuz: the letter says Iran won the war, that U.S. and Israeli forces failed to reach their objectives, and that Iran has kept control of the Strait. TIME reports that traffic through the Strait has risen in recent weeks and that crude exports from key Gulf producers in September reached their highest level since the war began, per Kpler data. Mohebbi said a few vessels slipping through does not mean the Strait is open.
Nuclear program: the letter says Trump lied about Iran's nuclear program. TIME notes that a March 2025 U.S. intelligence assessment said Iran was not building a bomb, while the IAEA reported 60%-enriched uranium stocks as of June 2025 and said in September 2026 that it has been unable to verify their status since the 2025 strikes.
Minab school: the letter cites the Feb. 28 strike on an elementary school in Minab. TIME reports that a U.N. fact-finding mission said earlier in September that the strike could constitute a war crime; the U.S. rejected the findings, and the Pentagon said in March it was investigating. See the linked entry on the strikes.
Casualties and costs: the letter says U.S. officials deliberately falsify casualty figures, military losses and war costs, presenting them as many times lower than the real numbers. It gives no figures or sources for this. A separate entry covers the reported gap between the Pentagon's public death count and officials' accounts, which does not establish deliberate concealment.
Trump's finances: the letter calls Trump an avaricious man who flaunts bribes from heads of wealthy nations, uses family members and business partners as envoys, and times war announcements and social-media posts to make his stock trades more profitable. It offers no documentation for these claims. Newsweek notes Tehran has repeatedly accused Trump of profiting directly from the war.
Unsupported assertions: the letter says that, in the view of "a significant number of very smart experts," the Sept. 11 attacks were a false-flag operation by U.S. intelligence, and cites no evidence. It also blames CIA and Mossad agents for turning early-2026 protests violent and puts the Iranian death toll at more than 2,300; Newsweek reports that foreign human-rights monitors counted more than 30,000 deaths in that unrest, mostly civilians.
Bases: the letter's figure is about 800 bases. The Quincy Institute estimates the U.S. keeps roughly 750 base sites in about 80 foreign countries and territories, and says the Pentagon has not published a list of its overseas bases since fiscal 2018, so no current official count exists and the total depends on how a "base" is defined. The letter also describes Gulf bases as ghost towns; separately, TIME reports the U.S. pulled its remaining troops from Iraq on Sept. 30, a move observers said could strengthen Iran and Iran-backed militias.
Israel aid: the letter calls for ending U.S. aid to Israel. The current 10-year memorandum of understanding covers fiscal 2019 through 2028 and totals $38 billion, or $3.8 billion a year, the largest such agreement the U.S. has signed with any country, per Al Jazeera.
Public opinion: the letter says Americans are turning against the war. A late-August Reuters/Ipsos poll found 59% disapproved of U.S. strikes on Iran and 54% said military action had not been worth it, per TIME; Newsweek cites NBC News polling showing 31% support for the war. Views split sharply along party lines.

Reaction and context
Earlier in September, Trump said Iran was trying to sabotage the election outcome by prolonging the war, and he has predicted Iran will seek to end the war right after the midterms, according to TIME. The war began Feb. 28, 2026; a cease-fire collapsed in July.
TIME said it asked the White House for comment, and its article reports no response; Newsweek said it asked the State Department. No U.S. government response to the letter turned up in the coverage reviewed.
The U.S. designated the IRGC a terrorist organization in 2019, the first such listing of an active foreign military branch, per Newsweek.

Perspectives

Official position — IRGC spokesman Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi
The IRGC describes the letter as "benevolent and compassionate" and says it chose a detailed, logical appeal over short social-media posts to help Americans understand Iran's reasoning. It says its quarrel is with the U.S. government and ruling elite, not the American people, and that Americans and Iranians have been wronged by the same elite.

Expert view — Alan Eyre, Middle East Institute (former U.S. State Department official)
Eyre doubted the letter would change how Trump and his team see the war, or that Iranian officials expect average Americans to read 25 pages. He said its critique of Trump echoes what many American commentators say, which underlines its point that the people running America are not looking out for ordinary Americans, so parts may resonate with readers who share those grievances. He said the letter's description of Iran itself is the usual self-flattery.

Official position — President Trump (earlier statement, Sept. 2026)
Before the letter, Trump said Iran's government was trying to sabotage the election outcome by prolonging the war, and that it is nearing collapse and will seek an end to the war right after the midterms. No direct response to the letter was reported.

Research notes
Open leads: no U.S. government response found yet (White House and State Department were contacted by TIME and Newsweek); original PDF is hosted by IRNA (Iranian state news agency), cited by TIME. Source note: the letter's text comes from Iranian state-aligned outlets (Tehran Times, Mehr); its factual claims are the IRGC's own and are checked above against independent reporting where possible. Gulf-base damage and U.S. withdrawal claims in the letter are not yet checked against Pentagon or independent sources.

Note
The IRGC's claims of military victory, of control of the Strait of Hormuz, of falsified U.S. casualty figures and of Trump's personal motives are its own assertions; the U.S. government's response was not reported in the coverage found.

Sources
[1] Tehran Times — An open letter to the honorable people of the United States of America (full text) (https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/530582/An-open-letter-to-the-honorable-people-of-the-United-States-of) · 2026-09-30
[2] Mehr News Agency — IRGC writes an open letter to American people (https://en.mehrnews.com/news/248182/IRGC-writes-an-open-letter-to-American-people) · 2026-09-29
[3] TIME — Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Pens Open Letter to American Voters (https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/iran-war-irgc-open-letter-us-midterm-elections-american-voters/) · 2026-09-30
[4] Newsweek — Iran's IRGC urges US regime change in preelection letter to Americans (https://www.newsweek.com/5-takeaways-from-iran-letter-to-americans-and-what-it-means-for-trumps-war-12502677) · 2026-09-29
[5] Al Jazeera — US and Israel sign record $38bn military aid deal (https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2016/9/15/us-and-israel-sign-record-38bn-military-aid-deal) · 2016-09-15
[6] Quincy Institute — report on U.S. overseas military bases (https://quincyinst.org/?p=7045)

Connections

Related — 'Flood the zone': overwhelming courts, opposition, and the public
Linked at the Author's direction as part of the broader news pattern; it is not a sourced example of the strategy. The letter was released Sept. 29, 2026, in the same stretch as the other recent entries.

Same context — Hegseth's Pentagon undercounting/concealing US casualties in the Iran war
The letter accuses U.S. officials of falsifying casualty figures; this entry documents the reported gap between the Pentagon's public death count and officials' accounts, without establishing deliberate concealment.

Same context — Iran war oil shock: record oil profits, higher prices for everyone else
The letter alleges Trump profits personally from the war and that the war is driving inflation; this entry documents the oil-price shock and record oil profits, and does not establish the letter's claims about Trump's trades.

Same actor — Military-industrial complex: Trump family ties to defense contracts
The letter accuses Trump of enriching himself and his family through war and foreign policy; this entry documents Trump family financial ties to defense contracts, investments and loan guarantees since 2025.

Same context — Suspiciously timed trades before Trump's Iran and tariff announcements, and active trading in accounts in his name (2025-2026)
The IRGC letter accuses Trump of timing war posts to profit from stock trades without offering evidence; this entry documents the timing of trades around his announcements and what is and is not established.

Related — Trump's first term and Israel (2017-2021): Adelson money, embassy move, Golan, Iran deal and aid cuts
The letter blames Trump and a pro-Israel donor class for U.S. policy; this entry documents Adelson giving and first-term Israel decisions.

Related — US policy toward Israel amid mounting genocide allegations in Gaza
The letter demands an end to U.S. aid to Israel and calls the Gaza war a genocide; this entry covers U.S. policy toward Israel and notes that the genocide label is contested before international courts.

Same context — US-Israeli strikes on an Iranian school, university and civilian sites; UN war-crimes findings
The letter centers the Minab school strike and calls for accountability; this entry documents the strike and the U.N. war-crimes findings.