Former Fox News alum Tucker Carlson plans to release a video interview next week with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, a move already drawing sharp criticism across the political spectrum.
Carlson teased the interview in a video posted Saturday. Speaking directly to the camera, he acknowledged the controversy the conversation is likely to stir — but defended the decision on principle.
“We know we’ll be criticized for doing this interview,” Carlson said. “Why did we do it anyway? Well, we did it because we were just at a war with Iran 10 days ago and may be again.”
He framed the interview as part of a broader effort to inform the American public about issues that matter, especially those involving military conflict.
“Our view, which has remained consistent over time, is that American citizens have the Constitutional right and the God-given right to all the information they can gather about matters that affect them,” Carlson said.
“If their country is doing something with their money in their name, they have a right, an absolute right, to know as much about it as they can,” he added. “And that would include hearing from the people they’re fighting.”
As Mediaite reports:
President Donald Trump split some MAGA commentators by bombing Iranian nuclear sites following Iran and Israel carrying out strikes against one another. The extent of the damage of the United States’ strike remains not fully clear, but the president claimed it set back the country’s nuclear programs by years.
Carlson has gotten into heated spats with Republicans like Mark Levin and Sen. Ted Cruz (R) as he’s argued for diplomacy over the United States getting dragged into another war in the Middle East. Commentators like Levin have meanwhile argued for more aggressive actions to be taken against Iran to ensure they never possess a nuclear weapon.
Carlson acknowledged that viewers will not be able to fully trust everything Iran’s president says, but argued the conversation is still worth having as people can decide what they do and do not believe. Carlson said he’s also reached out for an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Carlson said he avoided questions about the extent of the damage from the United States’ strike, knowing he would not get an honest or accurate answer.
“I asked him very simple questions, such as, what is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel, etc, etc,” he explained. “Again, the purpose of this was not to get to the absolute truth. That’s impossible in an interview like this. The purpose of the interview was to add to the corpus of knowledge from which Americans can derive their own opinion. Learn everything you can, and then you decide.”
Carlson’s interview with Pezeshkian would mark the first major U.S.-media appearance for the newly elected Iranian president. Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff election last July and is viewed as a relative moderate within the Islamic Republic’s political hierarchy.
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Carlson is just playing into the hands of Iran. Too many low info self righteous people in the US, rant that Iran just wants “nuclear energy” for peaceful purposes. Golly. In their minds it must be true. Gee, Iran hasn’t attacked us with a nuclear weapon, right? The Mullahs know the interview will help humanize the extremist blood thirst regime. As long as the leader does not start screaming “Death to America!” on camera, the same liberals will rant that Iran is not a threat. The MSM in the US just ignores all the dozens of times the Leader and the Mullahs openly screamed it to the international press.
Liberals also rant about Joe Biden’s “nuclear treaty” with Iran. Well, the Iranians have never officially agreed to it, and they have obstructed international inspectors at every turn. The same liberals have been standing on the hope that someday Iran might actually let the inspectors into the sites.
Carlson shows a remarkable lack of wisdom.