Lindsey Graham has introduced legislation that could drag Washington into war with Tehran if Israel is attacked
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has introduced legislation that would authorize military action against Iran if Hezbollah attacks Israel or if Washington determines that Tehran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons.
Introduced Wednesday, the South Carolina Republican Party’s first-ever resolution states that the U.S. should recognize a major Hezbollah attack on Israel as an attack by Iran and uphold “all options are on the table, including military force”, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The second resolution would authorize the US President to “use all necessary and appropriate force against the Islamic Republic of Iran” if the president determines that Iran “is in the process of possessing a nuclear weapon” or “possesses weapons-grade enriched uranium, possesses a nuclear warhead, or possesses a delivery vehicle capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.”
Both resolutions were sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.
Graham is a foreign policy hawk who spent his two decades in the Senate repeatedly lobbying for U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts. He called for “preventive” US attacks on Iran since 2010, and just days after the war between Israel and Hamas began last October, were prompting the US and Israel to bomb the Islamic Republic, even though Tehran could not be linked to Hamas’ attack on Israel.
“I am appealing tonight for Israel to destroy the oil refineries that feed this terrorist beast,” Graham told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday. “Destroy the oil refineries and they will be done with it,” he added, referring to Iran’s support for Hezbollah and apparent support for Hamas.
While Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza and sporadically clashing with Hezbollah on the Lebanese border for nearly a decade, a recent wave of assassinations has threatened to escalate the conflict into a major regional war. Iran has vowed revenge after an alleged Israeli strike killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday that his forces were ready to “open battle” with Israel over the assassination of Haniyeh and the death of its own commander, Fuad Shukr, in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, US President Joe Biden said the assassination of Haniyeh “Did not help” efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
Biden stated that he had a “very direct” phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he encouraged Netanyahu to “move on [a ceasefire deal] now.” A White House readout of the call said Biden also ordered more US military resources to be sent to the region to support “Israel’s security against all threats from Iran.”
Iranian officials have not said when or how they plan to attack Israel. Speaking to American media outlets on Thursday, U.S. government sources said they expect a larger attack than the barrage of missiles and drones that Iran launched against Israel in April, and that they expect the Iranian strike to occur in the coming days.