Conservative media personality Tucker Carlson clashes with US Senator Ted Cruz over Iran's population and plots to kill Donald Trump

Conservative media commentator Tucker Carlson and US Senator Ted Cruz have clashed over the conflict between Israel and Iran during a heated video interview.

Carlson sat down with Cruz for his YouTube series to discuss US involvement in the Middle East, which resulted in the TV personality quizzing Cruz on Iran's population and accusing him of "not knowing anything" about the country.

The interview began with Cruz announcing Iran needed an uprising to topple the regime before descending into a verbal tennis match about the Middle East nation's demographics.

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"How many people live in Iran, by the way?" Carlson asked Cruz.

"I don't know the population at all," Cruz admitted, before Carlson further pushed him on his knowledge about Iran.

"You don't know the population of the country you seek to topple?" Carlson replied.

Tensions boiled when Cruz claimed "we are carrying out military strikes today" before clarifying he meant there was US support for Israeli action.

"We are not bombing them," Cruz quickly responded.

"This is super high-stakes stuff," Carlson said when Cruz complained he was being "snide".

Carlson – previously a vocal Trump supporter – later said he thought Trump should tread carefully around US involvement in another overseas conflict.

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Cruz then accused the media personality of supporting the likes of Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama's foreign policy.

"I want to stop a lunatic who wants to murder us from getting nuclear weapons that could kill millions of Americans," Cruz said of Iran's supreme leader.

The argument further escalated when Carlson revealed he was sceptical that Iran had attempted to assassinate Donald Trump twice.

"They're actively trying to murder Donald J. Trump," Cruz claimed.

"You're aware of a plot to kill Trump?" Carlson hit back, to which Cruz said: "Yes, that Iran is paying for".

Carlson's position on Iran has already struck a nerve in the White House.

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Trump took to Truth Social on Monday to take aim at "kooky" Carlson over his Iran criticism.

"Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON," Trump wrote on Monday.

Cruz then took to X to accuse Carlson of playing "gotcha" with him regarding the questions about Iran's population.

"I declined to play that silly game," he said.

"WATCH the full 2-hr interview, where Tucker ATTACKS Trump, attacks the "AIPAC lobby," & falsely claims Iran is NOT trying to assassinate Trump."

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