US Senator Lindsey Graham has introduced legislation that would authorize military action against Iran if Hezbollah attacks Israel, or if Washington determines Tehran is on the cusp of acquiring nuclear weapons.
Presented on Wednesday, the South Carolina Republican’s first resolution states that the US should recognize a major Hezbollah attack on Israel as an attack by Iran, and keep “all options 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 uranium enriched to weapons-grade level, 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 has spent his two-decade stint in the Senate repeatedly lobbying for US involvement in foreign conflicts. He has called for “preemptive” US strikes on Iran since 2010, and within days of the Israel-Hamas war breaking out last October, was urging the US and Israel to bomb the Islamic Republic even if Tehran could not be linked to Hamas’ attack on Israel.
“I’m calling tonight for Israel to destroy the oil refineries that fuel this terrorist beast,” Graham told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday. “Destroy the oil refineries, and they will knock this off,” he added, referring to Iran’s backing of 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 ten months, a recent wave of assassinations has threatened to turn the conflict into a major regional war. Iran has vowed to take revenge after an alleged Israeli bombing killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday that his forces are ready for “open battle” with Israel over the killing of Haniyeh and the death of their own commander, Fuad Shukr, in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, US President Joe Biden said Haniyeh’s assassination has “not helped” efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
Biden claimed that he held 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 stated that Biden also ordered more US military assets to be deployed to the region to support “Israel’s security against all threats from Iran.”
Iranian officials have not revealed when or how they plan to attack Israel. Speaking to American media outlets on Thursday, US government sources said they expect a larger attack than the missile and drone barrage Iran launched on Israel in April, and that they expect the Iranian assault to take place in the coming days.