Fox News host Tucker Carlson slammed conservatives for pushing Trump to go to war with Iran and trusting 'deep state' intelligence

• Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday criticized conservative hawks who have pushed for conflict with Iran.
• He lashed out at conservatives for accepting "uncritically" claims from US intelligence that Iran posed an imminent threat.
• "It seems like about 20 minutes ago we were denouncing these very people as the 'deep state' and pledging to never trust them again without verification. But now, for some reason, we do seem to trust them implicitly and completely."
• Tensions between the US and Iran have racheted up at he beginning of the year after the US assassinated top Iranian military commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike Friday.
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Fox News host Tucker Carlson on his prime time show Monday lashed out at conservative hawks and "deep state' intelligence officials who he claimed were behind the escalating conflict between the US and Iran.

Carlson in a monologue on the show said that the conflict was being driven by the same US intelligence agencies that until recently Trump supporters were attacking as part of a"deep state" plot against the president.

"It's hard to remember now, but as recently as last week, people didn't consider Iran an imminent threat," he noted.

"Iranian saboteurs were not committing acts of terror in our cities. Oh, but our leaders tell us: 'They were about to any second! That's why we struck first.'"

"What's striking is how many people are willing to accept this uncritically," Carlson added. "Just the other day, you remember, our intel agencies were considered politically tainted and suspect. Certainly on this show they are, were, and will be for quite some time."

He claimed that intelligence officials had sought to smear Trump as a Russian spy, and were behind the faulty intelligence that was used to justify the war with Iraq in 2003.

"People pushing conflict with Iran are the same people who did that," Carlson declared. "It seems like about 20 minutes ago we were denouncing these very people as the 'deep state' and pledging to never trust them again without verification. But now, for some reason, we do seem to trust them implicitly and completely."

It's the second time in recent days that Carlson has attacked those pushing for war with Iran, with the host on Friday ridiculing a series of prominent neo-conservatives and hawks - but refraining from attacking the president himself.

Carlson's comments highlight a growing rift among Trump supporters over US foreign policy.

'America First' nationalists, of whom Carlson is a prominent example, have called for the US to focus on domestic priorities and step back from foreign military entanglements, while hawks such as Mike Pompeo have long advocated more aggressive action against adversaries such as Iran.

The president has veered between the two camps in the three years of his presidency, and was reportedly influenced by Carlson in his last-minute decision to cancel airstrikes against Iran last August in retaliation for a US drone being downed.

• Read more:
• Soleimani's daughter warns at his funeral that families of US troops 'will spend their days waiting for the death of their children'
• Trump's order to kill Iran's top general has sparked a catastrophe of his own making and left him globally isolated
• Why Iran's Qassem Soleimani was on a not-so-secret trip to Iraq when he was assassinated
• Iran has vowed revenge on the US after Trump's airstrike killed its top military commander. Here's how it could happen.