A win for Tehran: experts assess Carlson’s Iran interview

Negar Mojtahedi | Iran International
Jul 8, 2025, | 0:00 GMT+1 Updated Jul 9, 2025

Tucker Carlson’s interview with Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian was all Tehran could wish for, experts told Iran International: a global stage, no pushback, and a direct line to Donald Trump’s base.

“This was a major victory for Iranian information warfare operations,” said Marcus Kolga, a leading expert on foreign disinformation. “Whether intentionally or not, Carlson is acting as a significant conduit and amplifier for Iranian government information operations.”

The interview was recorded remotely, unlike the one Carlson did with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin in February 2024.

“(Carlson) offers Pezeshkian and the Iranian regime a platform—without context or pushback—allowing Tehran to shape the record to Carlson’s viewers and listeners unopposed,” Kolga added.

A moment highlighted by many critics was when Pezeshkian asserted that Israel had tried to assassinate him without offering any evidence.

“He was trying to… put forward the message that this is Israel tricking America into getting involved in this. This really isn’t America’s war. Iran and America, we have nothing to fight about.” director of the Yorktown Institute’s Turan Research Center Joseph Epstein said.

Epstein argued the interview fit Carlson’s broader pattern of offering authoritarian figures a platform to rewrite narratives without scrutiny—an approach that often blurs the line between journalistic curiosity and ideological alignment.