At a bipartisan luncheon in the U.S. Senate on December 11, 2024, Senator Ted Cruz delivered a forceful speech advocating for renewed sanctions on Iran and a hardline approach to the regime. He criticized the Biden administration’s policies, particularly the lifting of sanctions that allowed Iran to boost oil exports from 300,000 to 2 million barrels per day. According to Cruz, this influx of revenue has been funneled to terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. He pledged that, starting January 20, stringent oil sanctions would be reinstated to sever the regime’s financial lifeline.

Senator Cruz denounced Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei  describing him as a “theocratic, homicidal, genocidal lunatic.” He asserted, “Bullies and tyrants do not respect weakness; they only respect strength,” expressing confidence that a change in U.S. leadership would mark the end of Tehran’s unchecked influence.

Cruz pointed to the decline of Iran’s regional proxies as a signal of Tehran’s waning control, calling this a pivotal moment to weaken the regime’s grip on the Middle East. He concluded his speech by advocating for regime change in Iran and supporting the Iranian people’s aspirations for “free and democratic elections.” Highlighting recent political shifts in Syria, Cruz expressed optimism that transformative change in Iran could happen sooner than anticipated.

The full text of Senator Cruz’s speech follows: 

Well, thank you so very much. It is great to be with so many tremendous friends. And let me just say, change is in the air. You know, I will tell you on election night, we had a big party in Houston on election night.

We had so many members of the Iranian American community in Texas out knocking on doors, out making phone calls, out volunteering, out engaging, saying this election matters.

And I will tell you what, the results on election day, November 2024, were consequential for the United States, and they were consequential for the world. But there is nobody on planet Earth who had a worse day on election day than Ayatollah Khamenei.

The Ayatollah is a theocratic, homicidal, genocidal lunatic. His stated desire is not subtle nor is it complicated. When he leads the chance of death to Israel and death to America, I believe him.

When he refers to Israel as the little Satan and America as the great Satan, I believe him. And if history teaches anything, it is that bullies and tyrants do not respect weakness, but they only respect strength.

And I, for one, am incredibly pleased that on January 20th next year, a new Commander-in-Chief is coming to town. And I will tell you, the Ayatollah is shaking in terror. We will return on January 20th to a “Maximum Pressure” policy. We will cut off this cruel and oppressive regime from resources in every direction possible.

That includes vigorously imposing sanctions. That includes using every tool we have to shut down the nuclear research facilities, including the research facility in Fordow.

And we are going to cut off their oil. In the middle of the first Trump administration, there was a vigorous debate about whether to end the Iran nuclear deal. Within the Trump administration, both the State Department and the Defense Department argued we should stay in the deal.

I vociferously disagreed. I spent 10, 20, and 30 different visits with President Trump in the Oval Office on Air Force 1, urging that he pull out of the deal and President Trump made the right decision and pulled out of that deal.

THANK YOU @SenTedCruz! We’re honored to have your leadership and determination to support the Iranian people. #FreeIran #RegimeChangeInIran #IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/si7Km7ABGj

— OIAC: Organization of Iranian American Communities (@OrgIAC) December 11, 2024

Afterward, there was a major debate about waivers that remained in place, the most important of which was an oil waiver. Even after we pulled out of that deal, there was an oil waiver that allowed Iran to continue to sell oil.

At the time Iran was selling roughly one million barrels a day of oil. Once again, there was a fight within the administration about what to do concerning the oil waiver.

This time the battle lines were a little different. The Department of State once again was arguing for the wrong position. State argued, do not end the oil waiver, if you end the oil waiver, the global price of oil will skyrocket. The price of gasoline here at home will skyrocket. The Department of Energy, which you might think would know something about energy, said that’s nonsense.

Again, I engaged repeatedly with President Trump and said we’ve got to end the oil waiver. Again, the President agreed with me and overruled his own Secretary of State.

We ended the oil waiver, and we now know the answer to that dispute, which State was wrong, and Energy was right. The oil what waiver ended, Iran’s oil sales plummeted, and the global price of oil barely moved at all.

At the end of the Trump administration, Iran was selling roughly 300,000 barrels a day of oil down from one million barrels a day when the oil waiver was in effect.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration came in and reversed all of those policies. The administration came in with a policy of appeasement towards Iran, and most disastrously stopped enforcing the oil sanctions. And Iran’s oil sales, as a result, rose from 300,000 barrels a day to today, roughly 2,000,000 barrels a day.

There’s plenty of global supply of oil. We could end the oil waiver. We can impose sanctions, and it’s not going to materially affect the price of oil.

The Delta is a $100,000,000,000 that flowed in to fund the Ayatollah, that funded Hamas, that funded Hezbollah, that funded war against America, that funded war against Israel.

And I’m here to tell you on January 20th, those oil sanctions are coming back.

The Ayatollah is in a panic because the revenue for the regime is about to disappear. Not only that, but Iran’s proxies from Hamas to Hezbollah to Bashar Assad in Syria have all utterly collapsed.

Iran is weak. They are scared. And I will tell you, I, for one, have for a long time been quite willing to call unequivocally for regime change in Iran.

The Ayatollah will fall. The mullahs will fall, and we will see free and democratic elections in Iran. And as the men and women here know full well, it is the people of Iran who have suffered so viciously under this cruel and tyrannical regime, freedom is coming, and it can come with a speed that can astonish almost everyone. Just ask Bashar Assad.

The world remains a dangerous place, but I will tell you, I believe the United States of America is an indispensable nation, and when the American president, the American commander-in-chief is weak and feckless and ineffective, every enemy of America gets stronger, and America is at greater risk than ever before. And conversely, when we have a strong and vital Commander-in-Chief who will stand up to our enemies, our enemies are terrified, and that is a very good thing.

So, I want to say to the men and women here, thank you for your courage. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for your passion. Thank you for your willingness to speak truth.

I’m going to close as I opened: Change is coming, and it is coming very soon.

Thank you.