Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Iran's army group called the Revolutionary Guard wrote a letter. The letter is for people in the United States.
The letter came out on Monday. It asks Americans to vote against President Trump's government in November.
The United States and Iran have been at war for seven months. The war started in February.
On the same day, Trump said the war will end very soon. He did not say how. He said Iran will not get a nuclear weapon.
- letter
- A written message that you send to someone.
- open letter
- A letter written for everyone to read.
- vote
- To choose a leader in an election.
- election
- A day when people choose leaders.
- war
- A big fight between countries.
- government
- The group of people who run a country.
- weapon
- A thing used to hurt people in a fight.
- soon
- In a short time from now.
Level 2 — Elementary
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released an open letter on Monday that speaks directly to ordinary Americans. A spokesman for the group, Hossein Mohebbi, handed the letter to reporters in Tehran.
The letter arrives about five weeks before the United States holds midterm elections. It tells Americans to wake up and to remove the politicians it blames for the war.
The Guard says that the people of Iran and the people of America are both victims, each in a different way, of the leaders in the White House. It also says the famous slogan Death to America is aimed at the ruling elite, not at ordinary Americans.
On the same day, President Trump told reporters that the war would end very soon, but he gave no details. He repeated that Tehran will not have a nuclear weapon. The war began on February 28 and is now in its eighth month.
- open letter
- A letter published so that the public can read it.
- spokesman
- A person who speaks for a group in public.
- midterm elections
- United States elections held between presidential elections.
- slogan
- A short phrase that a group repeats.
- victim
- A person who is harmed by something.
- elite
- A small group with the most power or money.
- details
- Small pieces of exact information.
- nuclear
- Relating to energy made by splitting atoms.
Level 3 — Intermediate
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps took the unusual step on Monday of publishing a lengthy open letter addressed not to Washington but to American voters themselves, roughly five weeks before the United States goes to the polls for its midterm elections. The document, which ran to more than two dozen pages, was presented to reporters in Tehran by the Guard's spokesman, Hossein Mohebbi.
Its central argument is that the Trump administration has misled the American public on three fronts at once: the true course of the seven month old war, the nature of Iran's nuclear programme, and the question of who really controls the Strait of Hormuz. The Guard claims that Iran has emerged victorious because, despite an extensive bombing campaign, the United States failed to achieve the goals it announced at the outset.
The letter also tries to soften one of the most recognisable phrases in modern Iranian politics. The slogan Death to America, it argues, was never aimed at American citizens, but at what it calls the diabolical ruling elite whose seat of power is the White House. Both peoples, it insists, are victims of that elite, each in their own way.
Hours earlier, President Trump had told reporters that the conflict would end very soon while declining to offer any timetable or mechanism, and repeated his standing position that Tehran will not have a nuclear weapon. The war began on February 28. Oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz have since recovered to about 77 percent of their pre war level. The White House had not commented on the letter by the time it was first reported.
- lengthy
- Taking a long time to read or to finish.
- mislead
- To make someone believe something that is not true.
- campaign
- A planned series of military or political actions.
- victorious
- Having won a contest or a war.
- recognisable
- Easy to know or identify when you see or hear it.
- timetable
- A plan that shows when things will happen.
- mechanism
- The method or process by which something is done.
- strait
- A narrow channel of sea between two areas of land.
Level 4 — Advanced
In a manoeuvre that bypassed diplomatic channels entirely, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps published an open letter on Monday addressed to the American electorate, some five weeks before voters deliver their verdict in the midterm elections. Running to more than two dozen pages and handed to reporters in Tehran by the Guard's spokesman, Hossein Mohebbi, the document is less a communique than a campaign pamphlet, and its intended readership sits not in the West Wing but in the suburbs of Pennsylvania and Arizona.
The letter's thesis is that the administration has systematically misrepresented three intertwined questions: the trajectory of a war now in its eighth month, the character of Iran's nuclear programme, and the true balance of control over the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran, the Guard asserts, has prevailed, on the grounds that an extensive aerial campaign failed to deliver the objectives Washington set for itself at the outset. Whether that constitutes victory or merely survival is precisely the interpretive gap the letter invites American readers to fill.
Most striking is the attempt at rhetorical rehabilitation. Death to America, a chant that has furnished Western newsrooms with footage for four decades, is recast as an indictment of what the letter calls the diabolical ruling elite whose seat of power is the White House, rather than of the citizenry. Iranians and Americans alike, it maintains, are victims of that elite, each in their own way. It is an argument aimed squarely at war weariness, and it depends on persuading its audience to separate a government from the nation it represents, a distinction Iranian officials have rarely extended to others.
The timing was not incidental. Hours before the letter circulated, President Trump told reporters that the conflict would conclude very soon while offering neither timetable nor mechanism, and restated the red line that has anchored his position throughout: Tehran will not have a nuclear weapon. The war began on February 28; exports through Hormuz have since climbed back to roughly 77 percent of their pre war volume. The White House had not responded publicly when the letter was first reported, leaving an unusual piece of foreign electioneering to be judged by the voters it courts.
- manoeuvre
- A clever or skilful move made to gain an advantage.
- electorate
- All the people in a country who are allowed to vote.
- communique
- An official announcement, often between governments.
- trajectory
- The path or direction that something follows over time.
- prevail
- To win or to prove stronger in the end.
- rehabilitation
- The process of restoring a damaged reputation.
- indictment
- A strong public accusation against someone.
- electioneering
- Activity intended to influence how people vote.
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