Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is preparing a resolution that calls for the U.S. military to target Iran’s oil infrastructure if Hezbollah attacks Israel.
In an interview with Newsmax on Tuesday night, the South Carolina Republican argued that the best way to keep Hezbollah from attacking Israel is to directly threaten Iran’s oil industry.
Israeli military forces are currently focusing their attention on Hamas after the terrorist group’s gunmen breached the Israel–Gaza barrier on Oct. 7 and carried out attacks throughout southern Israel. As Israeli military operations have ramped up in the south, Hezbollah gunmen have fired upon Israeli positions along the northern border with Lebanon, and Israeli forces have responded with retaliatory strikes.
Both the U.S. and Israeli governments have designated Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. The exchanges of fire across the Israel–Lebanon border pose the risk of escalating the conflict, which would force Israeli forces to divide their attention between targeting Hamas in the south and defending against Hezbollah in the north.
“Israel will destroy Hamas. That’s non-negotiable,” Mr. Graham told Newsmax host Eric Bolling in a Tuesday interview. “How they do it is subject to negotiation. Nobody wants to kill innocent Palestinians. But I blame Hamas on their deaths.”
Mr. Bolling asked Mr. Graham how the Israeli military could go about eradicating Hamas without further inflaming tensions with Hezbollah, and noted Hezbollah had already threatened a “day of unimaginable anger” amid the ongoing Israel–Hamas conflict.
“Israel, with our support: How do we/they surgically remove Hamas from existence without Iran, Hezbollah getting more involved?” Mr. Bolling asked.
“If Hezbollah opens up a second front in the North—they have 100,000 rockets pointed at Israel, they’re a proxy of Iran—I’m going to introduce a resolution that would authorize the United States to attack Iran’s oil infrastructure to stop terrorist financing,” Mr. Graham replied. “The way you get Hezbollah to stand down is you tell the Iranians: ‘If this war gets bigger, we’re coming for you. There won’t be two fronts, there’ll be three fronts.’ And if you don’t say that to the Iranians, you’re making a mistake.”
Mr. Graham added that Iran’s oil facilities are “fixed targets,” and suggested such a U.S. attack would not require a greater commitment of U.S. forces.
“I’m not talking about a land invasion of Iran. I’m not talking about sending troops to fight the Ayatollah. I’m talking about using our technology and our combat power to put him out of the oil business. They’re the chief financer of terrorism because of the oil economy,” the South Carolina senator added.
According to the U.S. State Department’s 2021 Country Report on Terrorism, Iran has provided support to Hezbollah, Hamas, and other U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza.
Iran’s Role in Oct. 7 Hamas Attacks Unclear
U.S. and Israeli officials have yet to identify specific evidence showing Iran facilitated the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in southern Israel. Iranian officials celebrated the attacks, in which Hamas gunmen killed hundreds of Israeli civilians and took around 200 people back to Gaza as hostages.
Several Republican lawmakers have suggested Iran could have been motivated to finance or facilitate the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks after President Joe Biden authorized the transfer of $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets back to Iran as part of a prisoner exchange that went through in September. The Biden administration granted clemency to five Iranian nationals held in the United States on suspicions of violating U.S. sanctions and other criminal charges, and began transferring the $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds in exchange for the release of five U.S. citizens held in Iran.
The Biden administration has said the $6 billion in unfrozen Iranian assets were still being held in a Qatari bank around the time of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, and has insisted those funds could only be used for humanitarian purposes. Some Republican lawmakers have argued Iran could have diverted other funds to support the Hamas attacks with the expectation that they could replenish their coffers once the $6 billion funds transfer was completed. Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers are raising efforts to claw back the unfrozen Iranian funds in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani announced that Hamas is prepared to release hostages if Israeli forces halt their airstrikes on Gaza. Mr. Kanaani’s comments indicate at least some level of communication between the Iranian government and Hamas.
