Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, stated Tuesday that he advised President Donald Trump diplomatic efforts with Iran had run its course prior to the United States joining Israel in launching strikes on Iranian targets last month.
Cruz described Tehran’s leadership as negotiating in bad faith and using talks to buy time for expanding nuclear and missile capabilities. “I spent the entire day with President Trump the day before he launched the attack on Iran,” Cruz said during a recent interview. When asked if negotiations should continue, Trump posed the question: “Should we continue trying to negotiate?” Cruz responded: “No. They are lying. They are not negotiating in good faith.”
The senator noted Iranian leaders repeatedly use diplomacy as a delay tactic while accelerating military production. “They just want to delay actions while they build more missiles, drones, and accelerate their nuclear research program,” he stated.
Cruz characterized Iran’s regime—frequently chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”—as posing an unacceptable threat if allowed to develop nuclear weapons. When asked whether there is universal agreement Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon, Cruz said: “I wish that were the case, and everyone with sense should agree to that.”
Cruz also argued Democrats have adopted a significantly weaker stance toward Tehran than Republicans, noting virtually every Democrat in the Senate disagrees with his position. He sharply criticized the Obama-era nuclear agreement as a disastrous policy enabling Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “Barack Obama, the worst disaster of his presidency was negotiating the Iran nuclear deal,” Cruz said.
Cruz credited Trump for reversing this approach during his first term by withdrawing from the agreement and blamed the Biden administration for financially empowering Iran, stating that “Joe Biden and the Democrats flowed over $100 billion into funding Iran” during President Biden’s term. Those resources, he argued, helped Tehran finance terrorism and expand its nuclear weapons program.
Cruz emphasized the joint military action’s broader objective extends beyond a single strike: “The objective of this military action, I believe, is to collapse this Iranian regime,” he said. He maintained it is not in America’s national security interest for a government that has long funded terrorism to possess nuclear weapons.
