Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect

Iranian state media boosted recent comments from controversial political commentator Tucker Carlson that suggested an American military confrontation with Iran would be “suicidal” for the US. 

The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the official news agency of the state of Iran, published an article on Tuesday highlighting Carlson’s comments, in which the far-right podcast host and media personality warned the US against prosecuting a “destructive” war with Iran. Carlson cautioned that the US would surely “lose” any military confrontation with the Islamist regime and blamed unspecified “neocons” for suggesting federal lawmakers adopt a more aggressive posture toward Tehran. 

“Whatever you think of tariffs, it’s clear that now is the worst possible time for the United States to participate in a military strike on Iran. We can’t afford it. Thousands of Americans would die. We’d lose the war that follows,” Carlson posted on social media.

Carlson then blamed a potential war with Iran on “unrelenting pressure from neocons,” referring to so-called neoconservatives in the US who believe in a more aggressive US foreign and military policy. He also blasted federal officials for allegedly pushing for “war with Iran” and said they are “not an ally of the United States, but an enemy.”

The former Fox News host did not note in his social media post that US officials have long accused Iran of clandestinely pursuing nuclear weapons — a charge denied by Tehran — and labeled the Middle Eastern power as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism.

Tuesday was not the first time that Carlson lambasted US foreign policy toward Iran and its terrorist proxies in the Middle East.

In January 2024, he condemned American military action against the Houthi terrorist group in Yemen as the “next step toward full scale war with Iran, which the foreign policy ghouls in Washington have been fantasizing about for decades.”

In December 2024, Carlson asked on X/Twitter, “Which government has killed more Americans: Iran or Mexico?” in an apparent attempt to advocate a tougher posture against illegal immigration into the US.

Carlson criticized his former employer, Fox News, in March, posting that the network was “softening up the base for a war” with Iran.

Beyond Iran, Carlson has sparked controversy over the past year for spreading misinformation regarding Jewish history and Israel. In September 2024, Carlson drew outrage for platforming Holocaust revisionist and self-described historian Darryl Cooper. During their discussion on his podcast, Cooper appeared to downplay the Holocaust, argued that the US was on the “wrong side” of World War II, and suggested that the slaughter of six million Jews in concentration camps was “humane” because the Nazis did not have food to feed the “prisoners of war.”

In December, Carlson invited economist Jeffrey Sachs onto his podcast for a lengthy interview in which both men gave credence to the antisemitic idea that Israel “controls” US foreign policy, among other controversial comments. During the interview, Sachs floated the notion that former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s recently toppled regime was largely harmless and that the US opposed the authoritarian ruler “on behalf of Israel.” Sachs argued that American foreign policy hawks and the Israeli government have embarked on a joint mission to “remake the Middle East.”

Carlson has also criticized Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, repeatedly accusing the Jewish state of “blowing up churches and killing Christians.” He lambasted American Christian political leaders for “not being more critical of the destruction in Gaza.”