'Would Turn Fistfights Into Bombing Raids': How Lindsey Graham Pushed Trump Toward Iran War
'Would Turn Fistfights Into Bombing Raids': How Lindsey Graham Pushed Trump Toward Iran War Published By, Last Updated: July 12, 2026, 17:19 IST Tennessee Republican
'Would Turn Fistfights Into Bombing Raids': How Lindsey Graham Pushed Trump Toward Iran War Published By, Last Updated: July 12, 2026, 17:19 IST Tennessee Republican Burchett offered the most vivid description of Graham’s worldview: “Lindsey hasn’t seen a fist fight he hasn’t wanted to turn into a bombing raid.” Rapid Read A longtime interventionist, Graham found a receptive audience in Donald Trump's second White House, pushing for a tougher stance on Iran and closer coordination with Israel. (IMAGE: REUTERS FILE) Around three weeks ago, in an interview with CBS anchor Margaret Brennan, the late US Senator Lindsey Graham said President Donald Trump would obliterate Iran if it contested control of the Strait of Hormuz. Graham said at the time that diplomacy remained an option, but maintained that the US should control the strategic waterway. “We will obliterate them. So, to all the people listening, if this diplomatic effort fails, President Trump is going to take the Strait of Hormuz," the South Carolina Republican said, just a week after Trump and Vice President JD Vance announced that talks in Switzerland’s Lucerne had led to a framework for a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and what later unravelled into a fragile peace. Graham said he arrived at that conclusion after speaking to Trump for four hours on June 19. That was hardly an isolated instance. Throughout the Gaza war and the subsequent confrontation with Iran, Graham remained one of Washington’s most vocal Iran hawks.
He even suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should do with Gaza what the US did with Japan during the Second World War. The Push For Military Action Against Iran A staunch ally of Israel, Graham wanted Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf states to join the Abraham Accords as part of the US-Iran negotiations aimed at ending the conflict in the region. The senator, who did not trust Pakistan, hailed the prospect as “simply brilliant", saying it would bring about “the most significant change in the Middle East in thousands of years." Graham was also a critic of the framework MoU, which eventually fell apart amid continuing strikes. He warned Trump against accepting what he considered a premature deal with the Iranian regime, arguing it could shift the balance of power in Tehran’s favour and become a “nightmare for Israel" over time. The longtime proponent of US military intervention abroad was once one of Trump’s fiercest Republican critics and even ran against him in the presidential primaries, only to later become one of his closest political allies. He had long advocated military action against Iran and, ten days into the war, said it was time for a “new Middle East", arguing that the collapse of the Iranian regime would also bring enormous economic opportunities. “When this regime goes down, we are going to have a new Middle East, and we are going to make a tonne of money," Graham told Fox News in March.
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