Tucker Carlson interviews the president of Iran
Carlson explained that he stuck to simple questions for the interview such as, 'What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?' He added: 'There are all kinds of questions that I didn't ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could not get an honest answer, such as: Was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?"'
The political commentator also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with President Donald Trump. Carlson acknowledged that the interview with Pezeshkian would be met with criticism but said Americans have the "constitutional right and the God-given right to all the information they can gather."
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday. Trump said he believed Tehran's nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel's attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location. Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium.
He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him. Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons, but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research. The interview comes just days after the US averted a war with Iran. Carlson said that Americans have a right to hear from everyone, "including people they are fighting."
"Can you believe everything you hear from the president of Iran? Probably not. But that's not the point [...] you should be able to decide for yourself whether you believe it or not." The war, which saw Iran retaliate against Israeli and American military and civilian sites, began as US and Iranian diplomats sat down for talks over Iran's nuclear capabilities.
Under a 2015 deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium below 3.67 percent purity for fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. Trump abandoned the agreement in 2018, and Iran responded by producing uranium enriched to 60 percent—above levels for civilian usage but still below weapons grade. That material, if further refined, would theoretically be sufficient to produce more than nine nuclear bombs.
Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanding both the US and Israel be blamed for the recent 12-day Israel-Iran war. "We officially request hereby that the Security Council recognize the Israeli regime and the United States as the initiators of the act of aggression and acknowledge their subsequent responsibility, including the payment of compensation and reparations," he wrote. Trump scoffed at the idea that Iran could force the United States to pay for the damage done by Israel and America that culminated in the drone strike against nuclear facilities in Tehran. 'It's pretty ridiculous,' quipped the president during his Fourth of July celebration at the White House.
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