TEHRAN, April 2, 2026 (BSS/AFP) –  Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday accused the United States of committing war crimes and being influenced by Israel, asking Americans whether the ongoing Middle East conflict truly serves their national interests.  

The war, sparked by a US-Israeli offensive against Iran on February 28, has rippled across the region and triggered global economic turmoil.  

In an open letter published on his website, Pezeshkian said: “Attacking Iran’s vital infrastructure — including energy and industrial facilities — directly targets the Iranian people. Beyond constituting a war crime, such actions carry consequences that extend far beyond Iran’s borders.”  

He warned that such strikes sow “instability, increase human and economic costs, and plant seeds of resentment that will endure for years.”  

“Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war?” he asked, questioning whether Washington had entered the conflict “as a proxy for Israel, influenced and manipulated by that regime.”  

Pezeshkian stressed that ordinary Americans were not Iran’s enemy “even in the face of repeated foreign interventions and pressures.”  

His remarks came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s prime-time address to the nation, as his administration faces plunging approval ratings, economic jitters, and mounting diplomatic fallout.  

Trump on Wednesday said he would only consider a ceasefire once the Strait of Hormuz — effectively closed by Iran — was reopened. The blockade of the vital oil corridor has sent shockwaves through global energy markets.  

END/WD/RH