Tucker Carlson accuses US hawks of pushing Iran war via ‘false premises’

Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson has sharply criticized renewed calls in Washington for military action against Iran, accusing proponents of exaggerating the threat posed by Tehran’s nuclear program and pursuing regime change under the guise of national security.

In a lengthy post on X, Carlson singled out media personality Mark Levin, who he said had visited the White House to advocate for “war with Iran.” Carlson wrote, “Mark Levin was at the White House today, lobbying for war with Iran. To be clear, Levin has no plans to fight in this or any other war. He’s demanding that American troops do it.”

Carlson argued that claims about Iran being weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon are not supported by credible intelligence. “In fact, there is zero credible intelligence that suggests Iran is anywhere near building a bomb, or has plans to. None,” he wrote. “If the US government knew Iran was weeks from possessing a nuclear weapon, we’d be at war already.”

He also criticized US policy toward disarmament and cited the example of Libya. “Iran knows it’s unwise to give up its weapons program entirely. Muammar Gaddafi tried that and wound up sodomized with a bayonet,” Carlson said. “As soon as Gaddafi disarmed, NATO killed him. Iran’s leaders saw that happen. They learned the obvious lesson.”

Carlson alleged that the real aim of voices pushing confrontation is regime change, not nonproliferation. “So why is Mark Levin once again hyperventilating about weapons of mass destruction? To distract you from the real goal, which is regime change — young Americans heading back to the Middle East to topple yet another government.”