Veteran Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a long-time proponent of US military intervention abroad, has issued a stark warning to the Iranian government, suggesting it is worth spending money to "take this regime down". In an interview with Fox News, Graham claimed that "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, one of the Trump administration's most vocal supporters of action against Iran, appeared to suggest that US moves in Venezuela and Iran were aimed at gaining control over oil supplies. "Venezuela and Iran have 31 percent of the world's oil reserves. We're going to have a partnership with 31 percent of the known reserves. This is China's nightmare. This is a good investment," the senator stated.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Monday accused the US of seeking to take control of Iran's oil resources. "Their design is clear, their enterprise is quite obvious – they aim at partitioning our country to take illegal possession of our oil riches," he said, adding that "their objective is to violate our sovereignty, defeat our people and undermine our humanity".
Graham predicted that US-Israeli attacks on Tehran would escalate further over the coming two weeks. The US was going to "blow the hell out of these people", he said, asserting that "nobody will threaten [the US] in the Strait of Hormuz again".
The senator acknowledged making numerous trips to Israel to meet with Mossad intelligence officials, who "tell me things our own government won't tell me". According to The Wall Street Journal, Graham also coached Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on how to lobby President Donald Trump for action, with Netanyahu allegedly presenting intelligence that "persuaded" Trump to launch the joint war.
Regarded as one of the most hawkish senators, Graham has backed almost all US military interventions in the Middle East over the past two decades, including the disastrous 2003 Iraq War. During his interview, he called on the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to launch strikes on Iran, stating: "Yeah. I want them to get into the fight. We sell them weapons. Iran is striking their country; they have good capability."
Graham also suggested that the White House may next turn its attention to Cuba, declaring: "You see this hat? 'Free Cuba.' Stay tuned. The liberation of Cuba is upon us. We're marching through the world. We're clearing out the bad guys. Cuba is next." The Trump administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have made no secret of their desire to bring about government change in Havana.
Source: www.aljazeera.com