IRGC letter to American voters is desperate smokescreen, US says

The US State Department on Wednesday dismissed an open letter from Iran’s <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/irgc/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/irgc/">Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps</a> to the American public as a “smokescreen” aimed at hiding the effects of military action against Tehran. “The IRGC’s desperate effort to lie to the American people does not change the hard facts about the Iranian regime’s record of maliciousness, both in Iran and abroad,” a State Department spokesman said in a statement. He accused Iran of continuing to choose “terror over prosperity”, saying ordinary Iranians were paying the price, and that US operations had significantly damaged Iran’s defence industrial base, navy and air force while leaving its missiles “shattered”. On Tuesday the IRGC issued a 26-page "open letter to the honourable people" of the US, urging them to reject President <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/donald-trump/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/donald-trump/">Donald Trump</a>’s policies before November’s midterm elections. The IRGC has grown in power and influence ​since ​the US and ​Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28. The letter accused Mr Trump of concealing the peaceful nature of ⁠Iran's nuclear programme, which Israel in particular sees as an existential threat, and ​the effectiveness ⁠of Tehran's blockade of Gulf ‌oil. "This false letter, the Iranian regime's latest act of desperation, is nothing more than a smokescreen, and the world sees it for what it is," the US spokesman said. IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi earlier told reporters he did not expect the letter to affect ​the US administration's behaviour about five weeks before the midterm elections, but that voters might hear the message. The letter also portrayed the conflict as a disastrous failure for Washington, claiming that Iran had won a "decisive victory". "We can live together in peaceful coexistence. Remove from power the evil, deceitful and violent politicians who are responsible for America’s current state," the letter states. "Entrust your affairs to the wise, not the wily." Meanwhile, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice programme said it is offering up to $15 million for information that disrupts the financial network of the IRGC's Aerospace Force, which Washington says enables IRGC operations, weapons development and procurement. The programme wants financial information on senior figures including Brig Gen Abdollah Mehrabi, who the US says is linked to a company producing engines for Iran’s Shahed drones, including those launched against the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.