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Ted Cruz: “The world would be a better place if Iran was not governed…”

Featuring: Ted Cruz, Republican | U.S. Senate, Texas

A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America

Published January 12, 2026 | Video Starts at 30:33

I think unambiguously, yes, the world would be better off if China were no longer a communist country. Should you be for regime change in Iran? I would suggest unambiguously, yes, The world would be a better place if Iran was not governed by a theocratic, murderous, religious zealot. who has killed hundreds, if not thousands of Americans. Now, what is the consequence of saying you're for regime change? (30:33–30:41)

CLAIM

Asserts that Iran's governance by a theocratic regime is detrimental to global well-being.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Ted Cruz

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“Hezbollah... north of 90 [percent of its budget comes from Iran].”
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“Joe Biden, the Democrats flowed over $100 million to the Ayatollah and Iran.”
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“The Ayatollah also has hired hitmen trying to murder President Trump.”
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“We are prosecuting hitmen that have been arrested in connection with [the plot to murder President Trump].”
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“The IRGC is responsible for a minimum of 593 murders of American servicemen and women.”
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“Many of the drones being used, by the way, also by Russia against the Ukrainian forces in Ukraine are manufactured in Iran.”
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“Elon has put Starlink up for free for the people of Iran.”
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“The Islamic regime right now is literally broadcasting Tucker Carlson interviews in, in Persian on their 24 hour news channel.”
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“There are over a million people rising up on the streets of Iran.”
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“Iran's influence has grown dramatically.”
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“Many of the drones used against American forces are manufactured in Iran.”
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“Many of the IEDs that in Iraq were used against our servicemen and women [were manufactured in Iran].”
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“The Biden administration claimed that their number one priority was for Ukraine to win the Ukraine war, and yet they were flooding billions…”
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“More than 1 million Iranians are rising up on the ground. They're rising up in every major city across Iran.”
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“The Verdict podcast, we have roughly a million unique listeners to the podcast all across the country.”
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“Iran, the people in Iran had surged to. They were in the top 20 countries downloading the Verdict podcast.”
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“Prior to 1979, Iran was not a theocratic state. It was a secular state.”
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“Iran completely and totally lost [the 12 Day War].”
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“Israel systematically decapitated the Iranian military. They took out all their air defenses.”
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“They took out all their senior military leaders. They took out the senior leaders of the IRGC, they took out their nuclear scientists.”
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“President Trump order[ed] B2s to fly from the middle of the United States all the way around the world to drop bunker buster bombs on Iran's…”
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“We dropped the equivalent of one third of a nuclear weapon on those three nuclear facilities, utterly destroyed them.”
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“Flew all the way around the world and came back home with zero American casualties.”
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“Iran is so toxic, they literally fund every enemy who hates America.”
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“The Iranian regime, it shut down the Internet. It has a TV blackout.”
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“Reagan bankrupted the Soviet Union and won the Cold War without firing a shot.”
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“The world would be better off if China were no longer a communist country.”
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“I've opposed the Iraq War for decades.”
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“The Iraq War was clearly a mistake because it did not advance US national security interest.”
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“We toppled Gaddafi and the terrorists who hate Americans took over.”
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“We should want regime change in Iran.”
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“A free and peaceful Iran is better for Iran and it's better for America.”
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