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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued a message directed at the American public, asserting that Iran does not view ordinary U.S. citizens as adversaries, according to reports from state-run media.

In the letter, Pezeshkian attempted to counter longstanding tensions between the two nations, claiming that portraying Iran as an enemy of the American people does not reflect reality. He wrote that such a view was “neither ⁠consistent with historical reality nor ⁠with present-day observable facts.”

At the same time, the Iranian leader called on the United States to halt its military campaign, warning that Iran would endure regardless of American actions.

“Today, the world stands at a crossroads. Continuing along the path of confrontation is more costly and futile than ever before,” he said.

“The choice between confrontation and engagement is both real and consequential; its outcome will shape the future for generations to come,” he added.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that U.S. forces plan to leave Iran in the near term, while leaving open the possibility of returning for limited strikes if necessary.

In a phone interview with Reuters conducted hours before his scheduled national address, Trump outlined his expectations for the war effort and hinted at what he would emphasize in his 9:00 p.m. EDT speech.

During the conversation, Trump said he intends to criticize NATO, expressing frustration with what he views as insufficient backing from the alliance in the campaign against Iran.

He confirmed he is “absolutely” weighing a potential U.S. withdrawal from NATO, the military alliance established in 1949 and approved by the U.S. Senate. Trump has previously threatened to leave the alliance and has pushed member countries to boost their military budgets.

“They haven’t been friends when we needed them,” Trump told Reuters. “We’ve never asked them for much … it’s a one-way street.”

While Trump and senior administration officials have offered varying projections for how long the conflict will last, he reiterated that the campaign could conclude soon, though he declined to commit to a firm deadline in the Reuters interview.

“I can’t tell you exactly … we’re going to be out pretty quickly,” he said, adding that once U.S. forces withdraw, “we’ll come back to do spot hits” on Iranian targets as needed.

Trump said he initially expected that the first round of strikes—targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials—might lead to a negotiated agreement.

Mojtaba Khamenei has since taken over as Iran’s supreme leader, replacing his father. U.S. officials have indicated he is believed to be wounded and possibly disfigured, while Iran’s president and foreign minister have remained in place.

According to Trump, Iran’s leadership has now undergone a major shift. “I didn’t need regime change, but we got it because of the casualties of war. We got it. So we have regime change and the big thing we have is they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” he told Reuters, adding, “Nor do they want one.”

“We have had full regime change,” Trump said. “I’m dealing with a very good chance that we’ll make a deal because they don’t want to be blasted anymore.”

Trump has repeatedly said the primary objective of the war was to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and he told Reuters that goal has already been achieved.

Addressing Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, Trump said: “That’s so far underground, I don’t care about that”, adding, “We’ll always be watching it by satellite.”

He also asserted that Iran is now “incapable” of developing a nuclear weapon.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had approached the United States seeking a ceasefire.

He said any such agreement would depend on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. “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!!!”

Iran rejected the claim, with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson calling it “false and baseless.”

Separately, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said it continues to control the strategic waterway.

“This strait will not be opened to the enemies of this nation through the ridiculous spectacle by the president of the United States,” the IRGC said, adding that it “is firmly and decisively under the control” of its forces.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani voiced strong opposition to the ongoing U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran, criticizing the conflict on multiple fronts in a newly released interview.

Speaking with political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen, Mamdani argued that the war is fundamentally flawed. “It’s a war that should be opposed on every single ground, not just procedural, but also moral, but also political, and also a war that should be opposed on the grounds of the fact that it is being financed by the very money that could make it easier to keep calling this city, this country, home, and yet, there is a blindness to that fact,” Mamdani said.

At the outset of the conflict, Mamdani had already condemned the military action, describing U.S. and Israeli strikes as “a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression.”

In a post on X at the time, he expanded on his criticism, writing: “Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace.”

His comments come as President Donald Trump continues to weigh further military steps, including a possible deployment of U.S. forces inside Iran to secure its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium — a mission that could take several days to complete.

Such an operation would place American troops deep within Iranian territory, exposing them to potential attacks from short-range missiles and drones.

Meanwhile, the White House announced that the president will address the nation regarding the conflict. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared the announcement Tuesday evening.

“TUNE IN: Tomorrow night at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran,” Leavitt said in a Tuesday evening post on X.

{Matzav.com}

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the military campaign against Iran is approaching its final stage, though he cautioned that the conflict will not conclude immediately.

Speaking with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Rubio said the United States is closing in on its objectives but emphasized that the end is not imminent. “We are well on our way. We are on or ahead of schedule on each of those four objectives. And we can see the finish line. It’s not today. It’s not tomorrow, but it is coming. We are going to get to the point where our military will have achieved all of its objectives in this mission.”

.@SecRubio: "We are going to get to the point where our military will have achieved all of its objectives in this mission, and they're doing so with extraordinary efficiency — something that I think will go down in history as one of the best run tactical military operations in… pic.twitter.com/NaoMThIhs2

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 1, 2026

Rubio sharply criticized Iran’s leadership, describing it as driven by extremist ideology. “This is a regime that is led by radical Shia clerics, by people who believe that it is their calling. I know this sounds fantastical, but it’s absolutely true. This is a regime led by people who believe that it is their calling and their purpose in life to usher in the end of the world.”

He argued that Iran’s nuclear ambitions are evident from its actions and capabilities. “These people want nuclear weapons. Why do we know that? Because they are assembling all the things you need for nuclear weapons. They’re assembling long-range rockets that can eventually reach the United States, can already range Europe. We saw them demonstrate two of them last week, despite denying that they had them. They enriched uranium to 60%…from 60 to 90%, which is what you need for a bomb, takes 12 to 14 days. They bragged about still having that. They demand the right to enrich, which is how you get from 60 to 90%. They’re the leading sponsor of terrorism, not in the region, in the world.”

Rubio reiterated that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons has been a central objective of President Trump for years. “They can never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, which is what President Trump made very clear from the very first day of his presidency. In fact, from the very first day of his candidacy. When he came down that escalator in 2015, he talked about this,” he said, adding that Trump has consistently warned about the Iranian threat even before entering politics and has remained committed to confronting it.

He outlined the military campaign’s goals, saying significant progress has already been made. “We are going to destroy their Air Force. We have largely done that. We were going to destroy their Navy, which we have largely achieved that. We were going to destroy a significant percentage of their missile launchers. We are well on our way to achieving that. And we were going to wipe out their defense industrial base, meaning the factories that make the drones and the missiles. We are on our way to doing that,” he said.

Addressing the possibility of diplomacy, Rubio said the U.S. remains open to negotiations but remains cautious based on past experience. “We can’t ignore that for 47 years they’ve avoided and rejected any effort to negotiate. That doesn’t mean we’re going to stop trying.”

He emphasized that while negotiations are preferable, they cannot be used as a stalling tactic. “President Trump always, always would rather have negotiations than war. And he will always, we gave them 60 days early last year. We gave them additional time to negotiate after Midnight Hammer again earlier this year. But each and every time those things have proved fruitless. But we’re going to keep trying. There are messages being exchanged. There are talks going on. There is the potential for direct meeting at some point. We’re always going to be open for that. But President Trump is not going to allow fake negotiations to be used as a delay tactic to buy more time to buy themselves space.”

{Matzav.com}