Appearing on Fox News on Dec. 27, Graham talked about the Kataib Hezbollah attacks on American troops in Iraq and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. (Related: Sen. Lindsay Graham says civilian casualties in Gaza are no big deal: no need to “limit civilian casualties” or provide any humanitarian aid at all.)
The South Carolina Republican said he has been asking for months to bomb Iran and its proxies, particularly the Houthis. "The Houthis are completely backed by Iran. Without Iran there are no Houthis. I have been saying for six months now ... hit Iran. They have oil fields out in the open, they have the Revolutionary Guard headquarters you can see from space. Blow it off the map," Graham said in response to attacks on commercial shipping and the United States military.
"If you really want to protect American soldiers, make it real to the ayatollah [that if] you attack a soldier through a proxy, we're coming after you."
Graham's comments come after Iran's proxies began attacking U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria.
Tensions in the region are growing, especially after senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) advisor Gen. Sayyed Razi Mousavi was killed on Christmas Day in Syria during an alleged Israeli airstrike. Tehran has vowed to seek revenge, promising that Israel "will certainly pay for this crime."
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian wrote on X that "Tel Aviv faces a tough countdown," after Mousavi's death.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers at the funeral of the senior IRGC advisor on Dec. 28.
Thousands of Iranian citizens gathered on the streets to mourn the death of Mousavi. Gen. Hossein Salami, chief of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, addressed the crowd in front of the portrait of the dead military general.
"Our revenge for the martyrdom of Sayyed Razi will be nothing less than the removal of the Zionist regime. "I am hopeful that soon, God permitting, the great and honorable Palestinian fighters will wipe out the geographical and political name of this evil and fake regime," said Salami.
Israel-Hamas war could turn into a major Middle Eastern conflict
The killing of Iran's top military general came amid fears that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza could turn into a major Middle Eastern conflict.
Iran's proxy war groups, including the Houthi rebels in Lebanon and those in Syria and Iraq, have joined Hamas in its war against Israel.
In the past few weeks, strikes from land and air have intensified between Hezbollah and Israel along its border with Lebanon. Houthi rebels have also attacked numerous ships connected to Israel or its allies – the U.K. and the U.S. – to disrupt trade.
Iran also claimed that the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas were a response for the 2020 assassination of a top Iranian general. IRGC spokesman Ramazan Sharif called the U.S. strike that killed Qasem Soleimani a "terrorist act."
Soleimani was blown up by an American drone in a strike ordered by former President Donald Trump. It provoked a violent reaction from Iran which called on the United Nations' Security Council to take formal action against both the U.S. and Israel, which it charged with assisting in the assassination hit.
Hamas, however, denied that the assassination was the reason behind the Oct. 7 attacks. The group reiterated that the attacks were connected to "the dangers threatening the Al-Aqsa Mosque," referring to the key Islamic site on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Sharif also recanted his remark, saying that it was "misunderstood."
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Watch the video below as Sen. Lindsey Graham tells Iran that if war escalates, America will blow up its oil.
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Russia accuses Lindsey Graham of trying to start an "apocalyptic conflict."
Iranian Foreign Minister warns U.S. “will not be spared” if the Israel-Hamas war escalates.
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