Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has sent an unusual message to the American people. A top general says the US “war” against Iran has failed and Washington should admit defeat.

General Hossein Mohebbi, the Guard’s spokesman, read a “letter to the American people” at a Tehran news conference on September 29. He said the war would end only if the United States admitted failure and stopped fighting.

He urged Americans to reconsider their leadership and take to the streets in protest. He accused Washington of using Iran’s nuclear programme as an excuse to “plunder Iran’s wealth” and turn the country “back into a colony.”

The statement came as Iran’s currency hit a record low of more than 2.5 million rials to the dollar on Tuesday. The previous record was 2.2 million set on September 2.

The US has sanctioned 10 Iranian, Hong Kong and Pakistani individuals and entities in an operation targeting Tehran’s economy.

Iran’s foreign minister said US diplomats had rejected an Iranian peace proposal delivered through Qatari mediators at the UN General Assembly last week.