Story highlights Ted Cruz suggested the U.S. might have to kill the Iranian ayatollah if Iran tries to acquire a nuclear weapon

"And if the ayatollah doesn't understand that, we may have to help introduce him to the 72 virgins," Cruz said

Washington (CNN) Ted Cruz suggested Friday, perhaps half-heartedly, that the U.S. might have to kill the Iranian ayatollah if the country tries to acquire a nuclear weapon.

Speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, Cruz launched into his usual stump speech denouncing the Iran nuclear deal, vowing to tear it up on the first day of his administration.

"And if the ayatollah doesn't understand that, we may have to help introduce him to the 72 virgins," Cruz said, grinning as the crowd cheered in approval. He was referring to the belief among some Islamic extremists that they will receive 72 virgins in the afterlife upon martyrdom.

Cruz, whose stump speech routinely features a parade of exaggerations and laugh lines that are typically well received by his conservative audiences, frequently calls the Iranian leader a "radical theocratic zealot" but rarely calls for such direct action to be taken against him.

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