Texas Senator Ted Cruz said that as far as he knew, there was “no indication” that Iran was “close to acquiring a nuclear weapon” following the dual military strikes by the United States and Israel.
“I have no intelligence at this time on what progress they have made in rebuilding their nuclear weapons since we bombed their facilities,” Cruz told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan on Sunday morning. “I don’t have any indication that they were close to acquiring nuclear weapons because our bombing was devastating.”
Cruz opened the exchange by saying Trump’s decision to launch military strikes on Iran would be “the most important decision of his presidency.”
“I think he articulated forcefully and effectively why he took this action. He took this action because of the far-reaching and malign influence of the Iranian government,” he continued. “For 47 years, they have been the leading sponsor of terrorism. During that time, they have murdered nearly 1,000 Americans. They have provided more than 90 percent of the funding for Hamas. They have provided more than 90 percent of the funding for Hezbollah, and until yesterday, the Iranian Ayatollah was actively trying to murder U.S. President Donald J. Trump.”
Brennan also told Cruz that he “won’t find a lot of people who will defend the Supreme Leader in any way,” but she also made it clear that she wanted to discuss “putting Americans at risk” and asked Trump if he had explained his decision to withdraw from diplomatic efforts.
“Because diplomacy has completely failed. The Iranians approach diplomacy with arrogance, absolutely arrogance,” Cruz replied. “They say they will not stop enrichment. No matter what happens, they will continue to enrich uranium. They will not discuss zero enrichment. They claim the right to enrich uranium in underground bunkers without oversight.”
Asked whether he believed Iran was pursuing a nuclear program, Cruz first pointed to U.S. intelligence from last year. “So there is no doubt that a year ago, Iran had an active and ongoing nuclear weapons program,” he said. “We wiped out most of them at the end of the 12-day war, and Israel had wiped out—”
“—the U.S. intelligence assessment was not made public, if that’s what was briefed to you,” Brennan interjected before Cruz continued, “We launched directed bombs at the end of the Twelve Days War, and we dropped about a third of the nuclear weapons equivalent of those underground facilities, like Fordo, which were built at the base of the mountains.”
When it comes to the “security of nuclear material” that Cruz insists remains in the country, the senator explained, “Look, the amount of nuclear material, I’m not saying anything, anyway. What I’m saying is, they were building nuclear weapons a year ago and our bombings destroyed it. They’ve also been eager to rebuild nuclear weapons.”
“Margaret, this is one of the reasons I urged President Trump that now is the time. You know, authoritarian regimes survive because they are perceived to be invulnerable. In this case, Iran decisively lost the 12-day war, which weakened the regime and established what the president is doing now.”
Watch the interview with Ted Cruz in the video above.
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