Ted Cruz Calls for U.S. to Arm Iranian Protesters ‘Right Now’ So They Have ‘The Ability to Fight Back’

AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is calling for the United States to immediately arm protestors in Iran so they have the ability to “fight back” against the oppression of the Islamic Republic government.

The theocratic regime in Iran has imposed a communications blackout on Iran, shutting down phone and internet connections as protesters have continued to flood the streets, despite a violent and deadly crackdown by authorities. Despite the communications lockdown, photos and videos have emerged of sobbing families in rooms filled with rows and rows of body bags. Two Iranian officials told the Times that the death toll had reached about 3,000 already.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly issued warnings to the Iranian government about killing protesters, even threatening to use military force. Recent reports have suggested that Vice President JD Vance is urging Trump to continue to pursue diplomatic talks, while others in the president’s circle, like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), have advocated for military action and even killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Earlier this month, Trump wrote a Truth Social post urging the “Iranian Patriots” to “KEEP PROTESTING” and promising that “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.” Wednesday morning, he wrote that he was sending a “massive armada” to Iran, along with a warning message for the government.

ABC News senior White House correspondent Selina Wang spoke to Cruz on Wednesday about the situation in Iran and tweeted his response.

Cruz told Wang that the U.S. should provide arms to the protestors “right now,” she wrote. “If the protesters had the ability to fight back, I think it would change the outcome significantly,” he told her, adding that he thought in the next six months, “we could see the regimes fall in Iran, in Venezuela and in Cuba.”

The senator had tweeted similar comments on Tuesday, writing that the U.S. “should be arming the protesters in Iran. NOW.”

“For the Iranian people to overthrow the Ayatollah—a tyrant who routinely chants “death to America”—would make America much, much safer,” he added.

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