US senator urges Trump to arm Iranian protesters

Ted Cruz advocates for providing weapons to citizens, Kurds to topple Tehran regime without American ground troops

US Senator Ted Cruz on Sunday called on the Trump administration to provide weapons directly to Iranian protesters and Kurdish groups to facilitate a regime change in Iran.

“What I’ve been urging is for President (Donald) Trump ... to arm the protesters, the people of Iran,” Cruz told NBC News.

He argued that it is “not fair” to expect civilians to confront armed soldiers with only rocks and insisted that the Iranian people, rather than “American boots on the ground,” should be the ones to remove the current government.

Cruz’s appeal follows claims by Trump that previous attempts to covertly arm demonstrators failed.

Read: 'Help is on its way': Trump encourages Iran protests

Trump previously said that while Washington sent "a lot" of firearms through Kurdish intermediaries, he believes those groups "kept them" for their own use. He expressed deep disappointment in the mentioned groups, noting that the supplies never reached their intended recipients.

The decision to strike Iran alongside Israel is said to be partly inspired by the desire to topple the current set-up in the Islamic Republic.

In his video address announcing attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, Trump told Iranians that "the hour of your freedom is at hand … when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also said that "our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands."