TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - US Senator Ted Cruz inadvertently admitted that the United States has been assisting Israel in attacking Iran since this week. This was revealed during Cruz's interview with former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson on the Tucker Carlson Show. Excerpts of the 90-second interview were aired on the X social media platform on Wednesday, June 18, 2025.
As reported by Mediaite, the Republican Party senator from the state of Texas unintentionally said that the US has launched a military attack on Iran. This was in response to Carlson's question of why the US did not attack Iran if it was certain that Tehran planned to kill President Donald Trump.
"We (the US) launched an attack on Iran," said Cruz.
Carlson then mentioned that Cruz had earlier stated that Israel was the one conducting the attack.
"Right, with our assistance (the US). I said 'we.' Israel led the attack, but we (the US) supported them," Cruz firmly stated.
Carlson was surprised by the senator's statement. "Well, you are breaking news here. Because the US government last night denied - National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer denied on behalf of Trump that the US did not act on behalf of Israel in any offensive capacity."
Hearing this, Cruz tried to retract his previous statement. "No, we did not bomb them. Israel bombed them."
Carlson pressed Cruz again. "You just said 'we' did it." Cruz, starting to sound desperate, tried to respond, "We supported Israel."
The former Fox News presenter then put pressure on Cruz. "This is high stakes. You are a senator. If you say the US government is currently at war with Iran, people are listening."
The White House denied media reports that the US had decided to engage in the conflict, with spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer stating: "US forces maintain their defensive posture, and that has not changed. We will defend America's interests."
However, US military aircraft and ships have moved to the Middle East, and it is estimated that the deepest nuclear facilities in Iran can only be penetrated by bunker-busting bombs owned by the US.
Israel has requested the Trump administration to join the conflict with Iran. A US official told Axios on Saturday that the Trump administration is not actively considering it.
US officials also claimed that over the weekend, Israel had the opportunity to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, but President Trump informed Israel that he opposed such a move.
Several US senators on Tuesday sought to limit Trump's authority to wage war with Iran.
Congressman from the Republican Party, Thomas Massie-whose libertarian-leaning politics often put him at odds with Trump-joined several progressive Democrats to introduce a war authorization resolution in the House of Representatives that would require a vote by the US Congress before Trump could attack Iran.
Democratic parliamentarian Tim Kaine has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
"This is not our war. However, if it is, Congress must decide the matter according to our Constitution," Massie wrote on X when announcing the resolution.
Democratic members Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded to the tweet by "signing" it. Meanwhile, Massie's office later announced that several other senators, including Progressive Caucus chairman Greg Casar, would also sponsor the resolution.
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