Iranian President’s Interview with Tucker Carlson Generates False Claims in Iranian State Media
What happened: Iranian state media is seizing on a high-profile interview of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian with U.S. conservative commentator Tucker Carlson to advance false narratives about Iran’s nuclear program, support of terrorism, and the U.S. This includes the false claim that Iran never issued a kill order for U.S. President Donald Trump.
Context: The 28-minute interview was released on July 7, 2025, on the former Fox News host’s website (Trust Score: 17.5/100), generating 1.1 million views on YouTube and 2 million views on TikTok in less than a day.
A closer look: Pezeshkian’s claims, which Carlson did not challenge, were then widely covered by Iranian state media outlets, including the Islamic Republic News Agency (Trust Score: 7.5/100), Mehr News (Trust Score: 5/100), The Tehran Times (Trust Score: 7.5/100), and Tasnim News Agency (Trust Score: 7.5/100), among others.
Fatwa falsehood: Among the claims promoted by Pezeshkian was that Iran never issued any fatwas (religious rulings) calling for violence against Trump. “They have not issued decrees or fatwas against any individual or against Donald Trump,” he said. Carlson nodded as Pezeshkian spoke and then moved on to his next question.
Actually: On June 29, 2025, Grand Ayatollahs Naser Makarem Shirazi and Hossein Nouri Hamedani publicly issued separate fatwas against Trump.
A NewsGuard review of the text of the fatwas shows that both explicitly name Trump and label him a “Moharebeh,” an Islamic-Arabic term meaning “waging war against God,” which carries a death sentence under Iranian law.
And on July 4, 2025, days before the Carlson interview, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, during Friday prayers, called for the execution of Trump.
‘Death to America’ distortion: Asked by Carlson about Iran’s infamous “Death to America” chants, Pezeshkian claimed that the slogan is not literal and directed at “policies” rather than people. Again, Carlson did not attempt to counter the claim.
“When they say death to the United States, they don't mean death to people or even the officials of the United States,” he said. “They mean death to crimes, death to killing and carnage, death to supporting killing others.”
Actually: Pezeshkian’s portrayal of the slogan is contradicted by repeated statements from Iran’s own leaders.
In a February 2019 speech, Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said, “Let me make this clear for the esteemed American officials: ‘Death to America’ means death to Trump…It means death to American leaders.”
Hoaxes on repeat: NewsGuard identified four other unchallenged false claims advanced by Pezeshkian during the Carlson interview, including that Iran has consistently cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency. After Pezeshkian advanced the claim about the IAEA, Carlson did not challenge it and asked his next question.
Pezeshkian claimed that the U.S. created the Islamic State, which Carlson did not correct or follow up on, and instead simply asked his next question. After Pezeshkian claimed that Iran has never killed an American, Carlson did not challenge the claim or reference any of the documented U.S. casualties in recent years from Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, or earlier such as the 1983 bombing of U.S. barracks in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. service members or the 1985 kidnapping and murder of Beirut CIA station chief William Buckley. (Reality Check members can read NewsGuard’s False Claim Fingerprints for these claims here.)
Zooming out: Analysts say the interview helped Tehran launder its claims to a Western audience and bolstered the regime’s image at home.
Russian and Chinese state media also amplified Pezeshkian’s claims from the interview, using them to portray the U.S. and Israel as global aggressors, NewsGuard found.
Iran expert Fatima Abo Alasrar said in a blog post that “Pezeshkian's appearance on American media becomes proof of regime legitimacy,” handing Tehran “a propaganda victory it couldn't achieve through state media alone: Western validation of its peaceful intentions narrative.”
NewsGuard sent an email to Carlson seeking comment on the interview but did not receive a response.
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