After they argued whether it was a relevant statistic, Carlson asked Cruz if he knew the ethnic makeup of the country. Cruz said it was mainly Persian and predominantly Shiite Muslims, then blew up when Carlson asked what percentage.

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“OK, this is cute,” Cruz said as Carlson continued pressing him. “OK, I am not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran.”

Persians are Iran’s majority ethnic group. The country is also home to large populations of Azeris, who are estimated to make up as much as a quarter of the population, and Kurds, who are believed to make up as much as 10 per cent of the population. Shiite Muslims make up the majority of Iran’s population.

The interview came as the US is weighing whether to join Israel’s effort to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program with a bombing campaign. In the last several days, Israel has inflicted considerable damage to Iran’s uranium enrichment centre in Natanz and its laboratories in Isfahan. But it is unlikely that it will be able to strike the enrichment centre at Fordo, which is buried deep in a mountain, without the firepower of US bombs.

On Tuesday, Trump took to his social media platform to call for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and hinted that the United States could assassinate its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump also raised eyebrows when he wrote “we” — not Israel — now had “total control” of Iranian airspace.

During his interview with Carlson, Cruz echoed that language, saying, “We are carrying out military strikes today.”

Carlson seized on the pronoun. “You said Israel was,” he interjected.

“Right, with our help,” Cruz retorted. “I said ‘we’ – Israel is leading them, but we’re supporting them.”

“Well you’re breaking news here,” Carlson said, noting that the White House had previously denied that the US was acting on Israel’s behalf.

“This is high stakes; you’re a senator,” Carlson added, barely holding in a grin.

“If you’re saying the United States government is at war with Iran right now, people are listening.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.