Texas Senator Ted Cruz has called for the U.S. to seek a regime change in Iran, a stance that few Republicans have echoed.
“Let me be clear, I’m not advocating that we send in a bunch of American soldiers to make that happen,” Cruz said on an episode of his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz, released on Monday.
“I am advocating that we use maximum pressure and economic sanctions to pressure the regime in a way that might encourage this regime to fall.”
Newsweek has contacted Cruz and other Republican lawmakers for comment via email.
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Why It Matters
Cruz’s comments come amid uncertainty over whether the United States will get directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran.
President Donald Trump has reportedly been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility using a “bunker buster” bomb. He said on Thursday said he would make a decision on whether the U.S. will join Israel’s war within two weeks.
It has caused a split among Trump’s most vocal MAGA supporters and national security conservatives, some calling him out for considering a greater U.S. role in the conflict after campaigning on a promise to keep the U.S. out of costly wars. But some Trump allies have said the U.S. should go “all in” to help Israel destroy Iran’s nuclear program.
What To Know
Asked if he supported regime change in Iran, a spokesperson for Texas Senator John Cornyn pointed Newsweek to the senator’s recent comments to The Texas Tribune.
“I think that’s up to the Iranian people,” Cornyn told the Tribune. “Hopefully, they will take the opportunity that this may provide.”
And on Fox News, he said that the U.S. does not need “to take the lead in this effort.” He said that Israel “has a variety of options, and they seem to be doing a very effective job on their own with our support.”
The divisions between Cruz and many Republicans were laid bare in his conversation on Wednesday with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
“You don’t know anything about Iran,” Carlson told Cruz, after the senator said he didn’t know the population of Iran or its ethnic makeup. “You’re a senator who’s calling for the overthrow of a government, and you don’t know anything about the country. “
Other MAGA Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, have decried deeper U.S. involvement in the conflict.
“Foreign wars/intervention/regime change put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke, and will ultimately lead to our destruction. That’s not kooky,” Greene wrote on X in defense of Carlson, after Trump branded him “kooky” for his criticism.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt avoided answering when asked if U.S. involvement in a regime change in Iran was on the table, during a press briefing on Thursday.
She said: “The president’s top priority right now is ensuring that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon and providing peace and stability in the Middle East.”
But Senators Lindsey Graham and Thom Tillis have openly called for a regime change in Iran.
What People Are Saying
Senator Ted Cruz said on Fox News on Sunday: “I think it is very much in the interest of America to see regime change. I don’t think there’s any redeeming the Ayatollah.”
Senator Thom Tillis told CNN on Thursday: “It’s time for regime change. And I believe that this president should be given a fair amount of leeway to effect that.”
Senator Lindsey Graham told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday night: “Be all in, President Trump, in helping Israel eliminate the nuclear threat. If we need to provide bombs to Israel, provide bombs. If we need to fly planes with Israel, do joint operations. But here’s the bigger question, wouldn’t the world be better off if the Ayatollahs went away and were replaced by something better? Wouldn’t Iran be better off?”
President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday about the U.S. possibly striking Iran: “I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a national address, said in part: “We warn America of the consequences of engaging in war, because it will suffer severe damage if it decides to do so. War is met with war, bombing with bombing, and strike with strike.”
What’s Next
Trump will make a make a decision about taking a direct military role in the conflict “within the next two weeks,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
