Sir, - I write with deep concern at remarks made by US president Donald Trump in his recent televised address to the nation, in which he stated that Iran could be “brought back to the stone ages, where they belong”.
Such language is not only inflammatory, but profoundly dehumanising.
The presidency of the United States carries a global weight. It demands not only strength, but restraint; not only leadership, but wisdom. Words spoken from such a position shape realities. They can either open pathways to peace or deepen the wounds of division. The world expects better and deserves better.
This is not to ignore the profound political and religious divisions within Iran itself. These are real and they carry consequences – for the Iranian people and for regional stability.
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There are legitimate concerns about governance, human rights and the direction of the state. But such complexities must never be used as a pretext for language or actions that diminish an entire people or risk collective punishment.
Nor should they be instrumentalised to serve the political or strategic ambitions of external actors, including Binyamin Netanyahu, whose long-standing framing of Iran as an existential threat has helped sustain cycles of confrontation.
It is especially troubling when such rhetoric is directed towards a civilisation that has contributed so richly to humanity. The Iranian – or Persian – tradition is one of extraordinary depth and beauty: advances in science, mathematics, medicine, architecture and philosophy that have shaped our shared world.
In the realm of the human spirit, few voices have spoken with greater universality than Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, whose poetry reminds us that beyond all borders and identities, we belong to one another.
To reduce such a people to caricature or contempt is not only unjust, it is a failure of historical memory and moral imagination.
At a time when humanity faces shared existential challenges – climate change, ecological breakdown and rising geopolitical instability – we cannot afford language that fractures our already fragile world. What is needed is not escalation, but reflection; not threats, but a renewed commitment to dialogue and the common good.
This is a moment to pause – for the people of the United States, and indeed for all of us – and to ask a simple but urgent question: what course of action best serves not power, but humanity? – Yours, etc,
DON MULLAN,
Perrystown,
Dublin 12.
US president’s words reflect back on him
Sir, – Donald Trump speaks of bombing the ancient culture of Iran back into the Stone Age “where they belong”.
He should know. – Yours, etc,
GILL MCCARTHY,
Shillelagh,
Co Wicklow.
Washington follows Kremlin script
Sir, – The latest criticism of European allies emanating from the Trump administration displays a disturbing but, perhaps, deliberate misunderstanding of the role of Nato (“‘Go get your own oil’, Trump tells European allies as war against Iran continues”, April 1st).
Nato’s basic principle is collective defence (Article 5), which means that an armed attack against one or more members in Europe or North America is considered an attack against all. Trump is demanding that Europe participates in an illegal war in Iran, along with a non-member state, namely Israel, which has taken the opportunity to also attack Lebanon.
Alarmingly, the consequence of the American approach plays to the Putin script which justified the invasion of Ukraine on the basis that increased Nato membership also created the possibility of joint military, non-defensive interventions elsewhere.
By tearing up the rule books of international organisations, the United States is exposing the democratic world to serious risk. – Yours, etc,
MARTIN MCDONALD,
Terenure,
Dublin 12.
