Lindsey Graham: Military strike best way to stop Iran nuclear program

Senator Lindsey Graham said in Israel tonight (Monday) that the military approach to Iran's nuclear program is his preferred one, during a press conference summarizing the visit of a bipartisan Senatorial delegation to Israel.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a leading foreign policy hawk and a backer of President Donald Trump, led a bipartisan delegation of Senators to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, where they exchanged views and were briefed on Israel's opinion on a range of regional issues from Iran to Hamas to the Houthis.

Following these meetings, Graham gave a press conference, where he expressed his own views and that of the Senate on the regional challenges Israel faces.

Regarding Iran, Graham said that there were two options. The first was the military one, where the United States would provide Israel all the necessary weapons to strike a "decisive" blow against the program - on its own, not with US direct involvement. Graham said he preferred this option.

The other option was to try and negotiate a deal that would prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Graham said that such an effort, if it were to happen, would need to be limited in time and have a clear definition of what counts as "success."

Regarding Hamas and the hostages, Graham said that he prays for all the hostages to be released. He also said that it was vital that Hamas never have military or governing power in the Gaza Strip "ever again." He noted that he and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal were preparing a joint, non-binding resolution that Hamas should not have power in the Strip.

He also said that it would be preferable if this could be done without Israel having to restart the war in the Gaza Strip, but that it is up to Israel to determine what a good end of the war looks like, and that he does not believe it is one where Hamas still has power.