TAKE BACK CONTROL
Nothing says “free and fair elections” like advice from a military force whose government screens every candidate before the vote. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have written American voters a 26-page letter. We read all 26 pages so you don’t have to.
TAKE BACK CONTROL is the letter’s own instruction to American voters, and its closing pitch is just as blunt: “Entrust your affairs to the wise, not the wily.” It carries no individual signature and is addressed to the American people, specifically “the scholars, the students, and the members of the media.” The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released it Tuesday, Sept. 29, in English and Persian, and spokesman Gen. Hossein Mohebbi read from it at a Tehran press conference, The Hill reported. The full text is a 26-page PDF posted by Iranian state media.
What the letter actually says
It opens with a Quran verse and a casualty list. The Guards claim the U.S. war that began in February killed “more than 3600 Iranians,” including 168 children at an elementary school in Minab, and killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Those are the IRGC’s numbers, not verified ones. Then it declares victory: “the United States and Israel have suffered a crushing defeat, while the Islamic Republic of Iran has achieved a decisive victory.”
From there, the greatest hits:
- On the slogan. “The true meaning of ‘Death to America’ is ‘Death to the crimes perpetrated by the American elite.’” Not you, they promise. Just the people you elect.
- On being a terrorist group. “There is not a single verifiable instance where the IRGC has committed an act of violence against civilians.” The UN fact-finding mission on January’s crackdown and Amnesty’s report on 2022 disagree, Iran International noted.
- On Trump. He is “an inveterate liar” and “an insanely avaricious man whose only motivation in life is the accumulation of greater wealth,” who trades on war posts to move stocks, the letter claims, offering no evidence.
- On the economy. It predicts “a massive economic earthquake that will affect the lives of all Americans.”
- On faith. It closes awaiting “the return of Jesus Christ along with Imam Mahdi” and asks Americans to stand “by our side as we are led by Mahdi and Christ toward final victory.”
A stars-and-stripes revolver painted on the wall of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran, 2008. The letter insists “Death to America” means the elite, not you. Credit: Phillip Maiwald (Nikopol), CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.The asks
The demands are concrete. Shut down “the 800 costly and useless American bases” and bring the troops home. End “the endless aid Israel has been receiving from you.” Force Washington “to distance itself from Israel.” Elect congresspeople who “will hold the government accountable for the massacre of 400 innocent Iranian schoolchildren.”
And then the ballot box. “You are the ones who empower, with your votes, the government and allow it to do what it does,” it says. “Although American politicians often win your votes through deception and false promises, as Trump did, you can change the makeup of the government.” Then the line that sums up all 26 pages: “Take back control.” Also: “Americans need to rise up and put an end to this miserable situation.”
The November 3 midterms aren’t named, but nobody has to squint. TIME and Newsweek both framed it as a preelection play.
The red costume: grading an essay nobody wrote
White House communications director Steven Cheung called it a “garbage ‘letter’” and said the Guards “resort to telling the American people to ‘vote Democrat,’” adding that “supporting extreme liberal Democrats means supporting groups like the IRGC,” per The Hill. The Daily Wire ran the headline “Iran Urges Americans To Vote Democrat In Midterms.” Townhall called it an endorsement.
We searched the PDF. The words “Democrat,” “Democratic Party” and “Republican” do not appear. Trump’s name does, again and again. The letter tells Americans to fire the people in charge. The White House translated that into a party endorsement, which is a curious way to admit who’s in charge.
And the “rise up” line? Newsweek pointed out it mirrors Trump himself, who urged Iranians to “take over your government” in the war’s opening hours. Regime change by press release is apparently fine when it flies west to east.
White House communications director Steven Cheung (standing, in the bowler hat) at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day 2025. He says the letter means “vote Democrat.” It never says so. Credit: The White House, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
The blue costume: the silence is loud
Democrats have spent this cycle hitting Trump over the war, The Hill reported. So when a designated terrorist group starts making the same argument in its own words, you’d expect a fast, loud “we don’t want your help.” We could not find one from Democratic leadership. Daily Kos spent its energy fact checking Cheung instead. Fair point, wrong priority.
This is not a new problem. The Nation hammered Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries for waiting eight days to back a War Powers vote while the armada sailed. Hedging on the war, then saying nothing when Tehran claims your talking points, lets the other side write your answer for you.
The west front of the U.S. Capitol. The IRGC wants Americans to change who sits here on Nov. 3. Credit: Architect of the Capitol, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Both costumes
Now the regime. The letter lectures Americans on choosing leaders. In Iran, an unelected Guardian Council vets presidential and parliamentary candidates, the supreme leader isn’t elected by voters, and official 2024 presidential turnout was about 40 percent, Iran International noted. The Guards wrote 26 pages on accountable government without one line about their own.
So here’s the scorecard. Tehran wants a democracy it would never permit at home. The White House sees a party endorsement that isn’t on the page. Democrats see a problem and look away. The 26 pages name a target, not a party, and both parties read it for what helps them.
The rule to laminate: read the primary text before you tell voters what it says. Then decide your vote on the war, the bases and the gas prices for yourself, not because Tehran or a West Wing post told you how. Want to see who’s funding the people on your ballot? Start with the Follow the Money state map.
Receipts
- IRGC, “An Open Letter to the Honorable People of the United States of America” (26-page PDF, ANA). Every letter quote above is from this text.
- The Hill, Sept. 29, 2026. Mohebbi press conference; Cheung statement on X; Democrats’ war messaging.
- Iran International, Sept. 29, 2026. 26 pages, English and Persian; UN and Amnesty findings; Guardian Council vetting; 40 percent turnout.
- TIME, Sept. 30, 2026. Preelection framing; Mohebbi photo caption.
- Newsweek. Five takeaways; Trump’s “take over your government” parallel.
- Daily Kos, Oct. 1, 2026. Letter never mentions the Democratic Party.
- The Daily Wire. Townhall, Sept. 30, 2026. “Vote Democrat” framing.
- The Nation. Schumer and Jeffries on the War Powers vote.
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Originally published on Substack.
