Addressing Americans directly, the IRGC declares that America has failed to break Iran despite its overwhelming military power, urges the U.S. public to abandon support for overseas wars, and says the era of American military dominance is coming to an end.

TEHRAN -- The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) issued an open letter to the American public on Tuesday urging Americans to "distance themselves from Israel," declaring that "Americans can live peacefully with Iran if they separate themselves from the Israeli regime," and warning that "the occupiers of Palestine will have to leave and return to their countries."

The letter, read at a press briefing by IRGC spokesman Brig. Gen. Hussein Mohebbi, was addressed to "the honorable people of the United States of America — the scholars, the students, and the media persons."

It opened with the Qur’anic verse 13:11: "Indeed, God does not alter the affairs of a people until they alter their own affairs."

The IRGC said the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28 had martyred more than 3,600 Iranians, "the vast majority of them civilians, including 400 children," and that "eight universities, three hospitals, and eight schools have been bombed."

It said the war began with an attack on an elementary school in Minab that killed 168 schoolchildren and their teachers, alongside a strike on the offices of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei that martyred him and several family members, "including his 14-month-old granddaughter."

"Yet, despite the unprecedented acts of cruelty and violence suffered by the Iranian nation during this war, the United States and Israel have suffered a crushing defeat, while the Islamic Republic of Iran has achieved a decisive victory," the letter said.

'Why Has Iran Prevailed?'

The letter posed a series of questions to the American public, asking: "Why has Iran prevailed in its war with the U.S., whose military enjoys an annual budget one hundred times that of Iran's armed forces?"

It also asked why Iranians chant "Death to America," whether the IRGC is a terrorist organization, why five decades of U.S. efforts to restore domination over Iran have failed, why the U.S. is "rapidly heading toward decline," and how the American people can "shield themselves against the worst harms of the impending collapse."

On victory, the letter said the U.S. and Israel "initially stated that the objectives of their assault on Iran were regime change and partition of Iran," then shifted objectives repeatedly after failing.

It listed thirteen stated targets which the U.S. president sought, including "Iran's unconditional surrender," seizing Kharg Island, a ground invasion, "the destruction of Iranian civilization," taking control of the Strait of Hormuz, destroying Iran's nuclear industry, and ending Iran's support for resistance groups.

"Now, nearly seven months into this unjust war, the U.S. military — the largest and costliest military in the history of the world — has scored no wins," the letter said, adding that the U.S. and Israel also failed to divert attention from "Israel's horrific crimes against Palestinians."

'Concrete Evidence of Iran's Victory'

The IRGC said Iranian strikes "neutralized a significant number of advanced American military assets — including more than 200 expensive strategic drones, 12 tanker and transport aircraft, 30 fighter jets, at least one AWACS aircraft, dozens of helicopters, and dozens of high-value radar and air-defense batteries."

It said more than 350 primary facilities were destroyed and "the operational capability of 18 U.S. bases was reduced to nearly zero."

"For the first time in history, Iran has exerted, and retained, operational control over the Strait of Hormuz. Consequently, American warships were forced to flee deep into the Indian Ocean. Not a single U.S. vessel can now dock at the vaunted U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain," the letter said.

It added that Iran "ramped up production of weapons and munitions and, amazingly, developed more advanced iterations even as the war raged on."

The letter said American personnel were seen "running around in their underwear, looking for places to hide" in Manama and Doha at the start of the war, that U.S. bases "have come to resemble ghost towns," and that there is "now serious discussion in the corridors of American power about the dissolution of these bases."

On the IRGC and 'Death to America'

Addressing the "Death to America" chant, the letter said it "does not in any way express any ill will toward the American people" but is "a prayer for the eradication of the diabolical ruling elite whose seat of power is the White House."

On the IRGC's designation as a terrorist organization, the letter said: "The one overarching crime for which the IRGC has been deemed a terrorist organization is that it is the principal force behind the enemy's defeat."

It said "there is not a single verifiable instance where the IRGC has committed an act of violence against civilians," calling the IRGC "the world's most effective organization in combating terrorism."

The letter said the martyrdom of Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei "shone a spotlight on the concept of wilayat al-faqih" and debunked claims it is a dictatorship.

It said his funeral drew "over 40 million mourners in Iran and Iraq," and that in Iraq "an estimated 12 million mourners accompanied his body in a 23-hour procession stretching along an 80-kilometer route."

It named Imam Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei as the third supreme leader, describing him as "a respected jurisprudent and seminary professor with a taste for poetry and the arts who spent months on the warfront when he was a teenager," and crediting him with steering the country through war and bringing "two of the world's most technologically advanced powers to their knees."

The letter listed the five constitutional characteristics of the Leader — "a faqih," "just," "pious," "aware of the political and social currents," and "brave" — and said Imam Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei "verifiably possesses all five virtues."

A Shared Pain

The letter said Iranians and Americans are "both, each in their own way, victims of the oppression of the occupants of the White House," and cited U.S. domestic statistics including that the U.S. has "four percent of the world's population but 20 percent of its prisoners," that "more than 1,300 Americans are shot and killed by police in the streets" annually, and that billions in taxpayer grants go to Israel "to fund its ravenous, genocidal military."

It recounted a 73-year history of U.S. actions against Iran, beginning with the 1953 CIA-backed coup against Prime Minister Muhammad Mosaddegh, the "Den of Espionage" embassy, domestic terrorism that killed 20,000 Iranians, the eight-year war launched by Saddam Hussein with U.S. support that killed over 200,000 Iranians, the downing of Iran Air Flight IR655 that killed all 290 aboard, sanctions, support for anti-Iran media, the creation of Daesh, and the assassination of Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

"These were only some of the more prominent acts of hostility committed by the U.S. government against the Iranian people," the letter said.

The letter hit out at Washington for lying about Iran's nuclear program for 25 years, noting that the martyred Leader "had famously issued a religious decree declaring the use of nuclear weapons inhuman and therefore impermissible." It said "almost everything Americans are told about Iran" is a lie.

On the U.S. economy, it said the country "is on the precipice of collapse" while the president tells Americans the economy is booming, adding that "countries are starting to offload their U.S. bonds. Soon, the dam will break."

The letter quoted Jeremiah 18:7–10 and Qur’an 21:105 — "Assuredly, We wrote in [David's] Psalms…that the world will be inherited by My virtuous servants" — and urged Americans to demand the closure of "the 800 costly and useless American bases" worldwide, an end to aid to Israel, and a redirection of trillions toward scientific research and manufacturing.

"The people all around the world have awakened. The era when the U.S. could plunder the wealth of nations through military might has come to an end," the letter said.

Quoting Imam Ali (AS) in Nahj al-Balaghah, it warned: "The day when the oppressed triumph over the tyrant shall be far more dreadful than the day the tyrant prevailed."

"Soon, Palestine will be liberated. We await the return of Jesus Christ along with Imam Mahdi... We, the people of Iran, would like to see you, the people of America, standing by our side as we are led by Mahdi and Christ toward final victory," the letter said.