Reaching out

The United States and Iran and heading closer and closer to armed confrontation everyday. As the Iranians continue to spin their nuclear centrefuges and the elite Revolutionary Guards arm Shiite militiamen in Iraq, the US has failed to reach out to the Iranian people. Because of this, I have written a letter to the students of the University of Tehran. I hope that by doing so, I can do my part to help them unerstand that the United States is looking out for their best interests. Below is some of the text of the letter:

Dear Students of Iran,

I suppose the best way to begin would be for me to introduce myself. My name is Corey Hunt; I am an American citizen writing to you from the State of California. Last June, I graduated from high school and will be studying journalism at a local college. Ever since 9/11, I have had a fascination with foreign affairs. I have always wanted to know more about other countries, their culture, and their people.

I have been looking for a way to address the Iranian people for a while now, and have even thought about writing a letter to your president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, I feel that I can most relate to you, the young people of the Islamic Republic. As tensions grow between our two countries, my government has not done enough to reach out to the people of your country and gain an understanding of who you are. Because of this, I have taken it upon myself to do so and would like to extend an offer of friendship to you.

The world seems to be getting more dangerous everyday. Violence is raging across Afghanistan and Pakistan, Sunni and Shiite Muslims have ferociously turned on each other in Iraq, killings continue in Sudan and Somalia. On top of all this, relations between the United States and Iran seem to be getting worse everyday. We frequently accuse each other of doing harm to the people of Iraq, my government accuses your government of trying to build nuclear weapons, and your government accuses mine of being in the region for greed and power. Over here, the media often portrays Iran as the bad guy, as though it is nothing but some far off region trying to do harm to the United States. In spite of all this, I still hear that Iranians are very nice. I don’t know how the United States is viewed over in Iran, but if we are portrayed in a negative light, I hope you know that most Americans are good people.