The conservative senator told a group of pro-Israel advocates that they should address the issue of Iranian nuclear dismantlement in meetings with Trump administration officials
Gabby Deutch
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks at a NORPAC advocacy event in Washington on May 20, 2025.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said on Tuesday that he is concerned about the views of some of the officials in the White House shaping President Donald Trump’s Iran policy, marking the most critical comments yet from the hawkish senator about Trump’s approach to Iran.
He urged members of NORPAC, a pro-Israel advocacy organization, to raise the issue in their meetings with anyone in the Trump administration.
“We need clarity with the Trump administration, and as NORPAC talks to the administration, I would say, I worry there are voices in the administration that are not eager to hold up the president’s red line of dismantlement,” Cruz said at NORPAC’s annual Washington lobbying mission, referring to mixed messaging from some U.S. officials on the acceptable contours of a potential new nuclear agreement with Iran.
Cruz, a staunch opponent of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration, has not formally come out against Trump’s negotiations with Iran, although he said in his remarks that he has “more than a little skepticism” that “this threat can be dealt with diplomatically.”
But in recent weeks, Cruz has challenged one talking point on the negotiations made by officials including Vice President JD Vance, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — that Iran should be allowed to maintain a civil nuclear program.
“There are some in the Senate who say, Well, Iran can have civilian peaceful nuclear power. Baloney. I see no reason for Iran to have anything nuclear whatsoever,” Cruz said Tuesday, echoing comments he has made in the past. “The only way to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is to eliminate the centrifuges.”
Trump himself has offered mixed messages on how his administration is approaching the issue of nuclear enrichment. He said in early May that the goal of the Iran talks is “total dismantlement.” Days later, Trump said he had not yet decided whether Iran should be allowed to continue enriching uranium.
Witkoff has also walked back his earlier comments, saying last Sunday that “any deal between the United States and Iran must include an agreement not to enrich uranium.”