- Ali Larijani wrote a letter criticizing Islamic governments for not aiding Iran against US-Israel aggression
- He condemned countries hosting US bases used for strikes against Iran and questioned their loyalties
- The letter stressed Iran seeks well-being for others, not domination, and called for Muslim unity
Ali Larijani, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, has written a letter to "Muslims of the world" in what was seen as part rebuke, part theological indictment, and part strategic appeal.
The letter, posted on X by the Iranian embassy in India, does not dwell on battlefield details as its target is something else - the conduct of Islamic governments during what Larijani describes as an ongoing "deceptive aggression" by the American-Zionist axis against Iran, one he says began even while negotiations were underway.
The supreme leader, commanders and civilians have been killed, and the Islamic world for the most part only watched it, Iran said.
"Except for a few rare cases, and even then only at the political level, none of the Islamic governments came to the assistance of the Iranian nation." That is Larijani's assessment, not an adversary's caricature of it. He then invokes the Prophet: "If you do not respond to the cry of a Muslim, you are not a Muslim."
The letter's sharpest passage addresses countries that host American military bases from which strikes against Iran have been facilitated.
Some of those countries have gone further and declared Iran an enemy because it targeted American interests on their soil. "On one side of today's confrontation stand the United States and Israel; on the other side stand Muslim Iran and the forces of resistance. Which side are you on?"
It is the language of a country that believes it has been left to fight alone, and wants that belief on the record.
The letter also carries a reassurance that reads under current circumstances as much as a warning that "Iran seeks your well-being and has no intention of dominating you."
Larijani closes on Ummah unity as a security guarantee - independence and progress for all, if Islamic governments choose cohesion over accommodation with Washington and Tel Aviv.
Earlier today, Iran said it was ready to take the Middle East war "as far as necessary" as it launched strikes across the region, while US allies pushed back against Donald Trump's call for help to reopen a vital shipping lane.
Several European countries rejected the idea of a NATO mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
"By now they have... understood what kind of nation they are dealing with, one that does not hesitate to defend itself and is ready to continue the war wherever it may lead, and take it as far as necessary," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran.
More than two weeks into the Middle East war, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said they still had "thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day."
