Watch: Tucker Carlson Grills US Senator Ted Cruz Over US Involvement In Iran

To or not to get involved in another West Asian conflict, especially after promising to end all wars, is a question US President Donald Trump and his supporters can't seem to have a proper answer for. It has divided the Make America Great Again (MAGA) camp like never before.

Conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson and Republican Senator Ted Cruz - two vocal supporters of Trump - oppose each other on whether or not America should get involved in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.  

On his recent podcast with Senator Cruz, Mr Carlson, a former Fox News anchor, lambasted him for not knowing the basic facts about "the country you seek to topple."

Mr Carlson caught Mr Cruz off guard with a straightforward question: "How many people live in Iran?" during a two-hour interview.

The Senator said, "I don't know the population."

"At all?" Mr Carlson enquired, before adding, "You don't know the population of the country you seek to topple?"

When questioned again about how he was unaware of Iran's population, Senator Cruz said, "I don't sit around memorising population tables."

The clip of the exchange went viral.

NEW: Republican Senator Ted Cruz is completely stumped after Tucker Carlson asks him what the population of Iran is.

Tucker: How many people live in Iran?

Cruz: I don't know the population.

Tucker: You don't know the population of the country you seek to topple?

Cruz: How… pic.twitter.com/7ES655jIud

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 18, 2025

From there, the discussion turned a bit more heated as Mr Carlson argued that the figures were "kind of relevant because you're calling for the overthrow of the government."

The US Senator responded, "Why is it relevant whether it's 90 million or 80 million or 100 million?"

The former Fox anchor posed another question: "What's the ethnic mix of Iran?"

When Mr Cruz claimed that the nation was Persian and "predominantly Shia," Carlson queried, "What per cent?"

The two were then seen yelling at one another. "You're a senator who's calling for the overthrow of the government and you don't know anything about the country," Mr Carlson said.

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and House representative Marjorie Taylor Greene have argued against US military intervention in West Asia.

But Mr Cruz, his fellow senator Tom Cotton and commentator Mark Levin believe it's in the US' interest to tackle Iran once and for all.

President Trump has called for Iran's "unconditional surrender," warning that American patience was "wearing thin". He claimed he knew "exactly where the so-called Supreme Leader is hiding," adding, "we are not going to take him out... at least not for now." On Wednesday, Trump also hinted at potential US military action, saying, "I may do it, I may not do it," referring to strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, including the Fordow enrichment site.

Diplomatically, the US appears to be closing the door on talks. Though Trump mentioned the possibility of Iranian leaders "visiting the White House," he also said that it might be "too late for diplomacy."