Thursday, during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) warned against putting trust in the Iranian regime, which has agreed to a ceasefire and opening the Strait of Hormuz.
“Now, if they chose the hard way, there would be more damage done, and it would prevent Iran from building up their economy, fermenting terror,” host Sean Hannity said. “There are advantages to that. However, I do applaud the president for his desire for peace and giving them a moment, an opportunity, a window. Knowing Donald Trump, that window is not going to be open very long for them. How do you see it playing out as it relates to the nuclear dust? How do you see it playing out with the Strait of Hormuz and Kharg Island?”
Graham replied, “Well, we’ll talk about all that, but the first thing I want to tell you really is sort of breaking news to me. Donald Trump, President Trump, our guy, is directly talking to the Iranians. He is negotiating himself. He was on the phone with the Iranians a couple of days ago and it got rather sporty to the point that President Trump loudly told Iran what would happen if they keep playing games. He actually lost his voice. I’d hate to be the Iranian on the receiving end of that. So, President Trump is now directly involved in the negotiations. Now, what do I think’s going to happen? I don’t think President Trump is going to agree to the concept that Iran has the right to enrich. If they promise not to enrich for a thousand years and you acknowledge they had that right, we have lost the game.”
“A state sponsor of terrorism who has been cheating for decades has no right to enrich,” he continued. “A country with American blood on its hands has no right to enrich. A country who wants to destroy Israel has no right to enrich. A country who’s killed 45,000 of its own citizens has no right to enrich uranium, no matter how long they promise you they won’t do it. Don’t give in to the idea they have the right to enrich. They do not. It would be a fatal mistake, and Trump is not going to do that. As to Lebanon, a ceasefire is welcomed if it gets the right outcome. Hezbollah is no different than al Qaeda and ISIS. Hezbollah is Shiite. Al Qaeda and ISIS is Sunni, but they have the same goal. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization residing in Lebanon who does not seek peace with Israel. They want to kill all the Jews.”
“The Lebanese government and people would love to end the bloodbath, but Hezbollah is dedicated to destruction of Israel the same as al Qaeda, ISIS, and the Iranian regime,” Graham said. “They’re supported by Iran. So, if anybody tells me that Hezbollah is different than the ayatollah, al Qaeda, or ISIS, you don’t understand Hezbollah. No peace deal in Lebanon that doesn’t lead to the disarmament and defanging of Hezbollah. I do not trust the Lebanese military to disarm Hezbollah. The commander of the Lebanese military, Haykal, I think his name is, I don’t trust, as far as I can throw him. He needs to be replaced before there’s a credible plan to disarm Hezbollah. No peace deal in Lebanon until there’s a credible pathway to disarm Hezbollah.”
“As to what happens next, if we can get the 900 pounds of highly-enriched uranium and we can open the Straits of Hormuz, that’d be a huge success,” he added. “President Trump’s blockade has been brilliant, and we need to end this well. But they cannot enrich. They cannot be given that right no matter how long they promise to delay because they cheat. So, I sit here tonight knowing that President Trump is actually the captain of the ship. He’s directly involved in negotiations, and I think he’s the right man at the right time to end this well. As to terms of a peace deal with Iran, be careful. We don’t want a peace in our time moment with people you can’t trust.”
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