Graham urges senators to commit to declaring war on Iran if Israel attacks

South Carolina Republican Senator and well-known hawk Lindsey Graham is salivating at the thought of war with Iran at a time when regional tensions are at a high following Israel’s assassination of Hamas’ political leader in Tehran and Hezbollah’s top military commander in Beirut.

Graham introduced a bill on Wednesday that, if passed, authorize military action against Iran if Hezbollah attacks IsraelThe resolution states that the Senate “affirms that efforts to deter Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran are more credible when the President maintains all options on the table, including military force” . “

This could consider a Hezbollah’s general assault will have direct support from Iranand would thus authorize a direct American counterattack against the Islamic Republic.

The bill further authorizes military action against Iran if the country is considered as on the verge of achieving a nuclear bombIranian officials have recently announced a major ramp-up of their nuclear program at key sites. While Iranian leaders have yet to change the country’s official nuclear doctrine, which considers the bomb “un-Islamic” (while long maintaining that the program has no purpose other than to produce nuclear energy for peaceful purposes), Tehran’s rhetoric has recently shifted to warnings that the country could produce a nuclear bomb if it wanted to.

The resolution further stresses that Iran and Hezbollah will be held accountable for “any negative impact on the Lebanese people resulting from an attack on the State of Israel by Hezbollah” while urging the U.S. government to use “all diplomatic tools and power projection capabilities” to punish Israel’s fiercest regional enemies.

On the nuclear side, Graham has sought to invoke an authorization for the use of military force that would give Washington the green light for a military response if Iran’s nuclear program grows to the point of becoming a direct threat to U.S. national security.

“Iran will continue until someone tells them to stop,” Graham said at a news briefing this week. “It is time to set red lines on their nuclear program.”

He said he was “certain” that if the United States does not quickly toughen its stance on Iran, it will be a matter of weeks or months before the country achieves nuclear weapons status. “Their ability to enrich uranium to the point where it can be used as a weapon is now a matter of weeks, not months,” Graham said. “Their ability to weaponize this material has advanced, and it is time for Congress to speak up to provide the appropriate response.”

Call me if Lindsey Graham ever wakes up and doesn’t want to bomb Iran anymore. https://t.co/5Vj5Ry0K51

-Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) August 1, 2024

“If Hezbollah attacks Israel, I hope it will have one less refinery than it has today,” he continued. “It is time to hit the ayatollah in the wallet. Oil refineries are the lifeblood of his regime. Without them, he could not finance terrorism.”

It is telling that nothing Graham said called for immediate and vigorous peace or diplomatic efforts in the region. Congressional hawks and neoconservatives have long had Iran in their crosshairs, in a policy that goes back at least to the 1990s.