In a Tuesday night appearance on CNN, Senator Lindsey Graham squarely placed the ultimate blame for the horrifying Hamas terror attacks against Israel on the shoulders of Iran and said it was time to make the regime pay for its actions.
In an interview with Abby Phillip, the Republican senator dismissed the line coming from Joe Biden’s National Security team that Iran was broadly involved in the Hamas attacks but there is no evidence that they helped plan them.
‘This was a coordinated land sea and air attack, that had been months in the making,’ said Graham. ‘There is no way in the world that this happened without Iran knowing. If you know the relationship between Iran and Hamas, that is impossible to believe.’
Philip asked the longtime South Carolina politician if he thinks the US should target Iranian oil infrastructure if the conflict escalates, thereby becoming directly involved in the war.
‘We are already directly involved, 14 Americans are dead tonight. To their families, I’m sorry,’ he responded, referring to the Americans who are confirmed victims of the barbaric Hamas attacks.
‘Here is what I’m saying, I want to be very clear,’ he said. ‘If they (Hamas) start killing those (American and Israeli) hostages, and if there is an attack by Hezbollah in the north, creating two fronts for Israel. What I would do is, I would bomb Iran’s oil infrastructure.’
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said it is high time the US acts in response to Iran’s longtime funding of terrorism. He suggested a joint operation with Israel that would target Iran’s oil infrastructure
![Rockets are fired by Palestinian militants into Israel, in Gaza City October 7, 2023](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/11/05/76411565-12617371-image-a-18_1696998700712.jpg)
Rockets are fired by Palestinian militants into Israel, in Gaza City October 7, 2023
‘It’s time,’ he added, that Iran ‘pay a price for financing’ terror. ‘It is now time to dismantle the finance system of terrorism.’
He further added that, were it up to him, the US would conduct a joint military operation with Israel to target Iranian oil infrastructure.
‘And if we don’t do that, what do you expect to happen in the future? Do we expect Israel to forgive and forget? Biden didn’t mention one word about Iran today. And I want to support the president,’ he said.
In a bombshell report from The Wall Street Journal, it was revealed that the Palestinian terror attack that hit Israel early Saturday was plotted and executed with help from officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Senior members of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah claimed that Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel that killed at least 1,200 people was given the green light by Iranian security officials.
In addition to the attacks that occurred in southern Israel cities and towns over the weekend, Israeli forces in the north also exchanged rocket and artillery fire with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces (lDF) said: ‘Without Iran’s funding, weapons, training, guidance and political incitement, Hamas would not have the capability nor the capacity.’
He added: ‘This was a watershed moment, unprecedented in scale, severity, brutality and the sheer joy with which terrorists were butchering Israeli citizens.
![An IDF soldier reacts and covers his face before removing the body of a civilian killed days earlier in an attack by Hamas militants on October 10, 2023 in Kfar Aza, Israel](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/11/05/76411571-12617371-image-a-19_1696998706821.jpg)
An IDF soldier reacts and covers his face before removing the body of a civilian killed days earlier in an attack by Hamas militants on October 10, 2023 in Kfar Aza, Israel
![Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City as the Israeli response to the aggressors ramps up](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/11/05/76411485-12617371-image-a-20_1696998713203.jpg)
Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City as the Israeli response to the aggressors ramps up
![A man runs on a road as fire burns after rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, Israel](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/11/05/76411547-12617371-image-a-21_1696998718370.jpg)
A man runs on a road as fire burns after rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, Israel
![Israeli soldiers carry the body of a person killed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Kfar Azza on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/11/05/76411479-12617371-image-a-22_1696998726787.jpg)
Israeli soldiers carry the body of a person killed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Kfar Azza on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023
On Tuesday, speaking publicly about the devastating Hamas attacks that have launched Israel back into war with its hostile neighbor, President Joe Biden said: ‘Let me say again, any country, any organization anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, I have one word: don’t.’
He called the October 7 atrocity ‘unadulterated evil’ and said that his administration is reviewing intelligence to see if Iran or its proxies aided the effort. The White House said it cannot currently confirm that Iran helped with the attack.
Biden also didn’t mention his recent decision to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian assets as part of a deal that freed five Americans.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the administration does not regret the prisoner swap deal with Iran that involved the unfreezing of the $6 billion in assets belonging to the terrorist regime.
‘The United States does not regret bringing home American citizens who have been unjustly detained abroad,’ he said. ‘The President has no higher priority than to get Americans home.
‘Right now. We have Americans who are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. That is a high priority.’
Hamas continued to fire rockets at Israel from Gaza on Tuesday, following a coordinated attack on Saturday which killed over 900 Israelis and raised immediate suspicion of outside support.
Israel is preparing a potential ground invasion in response to the attacks.
Biden is, meanwhile, facing pressure from Republican senators to reimpose a freeze on the $6 billion.
!['Iran is complicit in this attack in a broad sense,' national security advisor Jake Sullivan said at the White House](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/11/05/76396659-12617371-_Iran_is_complicit_in_this_attack_in_a_broad_sense_national_secu-a-7_1696997511839.jpg)
‘Iran is complicit in this attack in a broad sense,’ national security advisor Jake Sullivan said at the White House
![The White House says there is 'complicity' due to Iran's support for Hamas, but say there are facts that establish the Saturday operation. Here flames and smoke billow as Israel begins its counterattack airstrike on Gaza](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/11/05/76387371-12617371-The_White_House_says_there_is_complicity_due_to_Iran_s_support_f-a-8_1696997526933.jpg)
The White House says there is ‘complicity’ due to Iran’s support for Hamas, but say there are facts that establish the Saturday operation. Here flames and smoke billow as Israel begins its counterattack airstrike on Gaza
‘To stand by and allow Iran access to these funds as Hamas infiltrates Israel and murders, rapes, and mutilates countless Israelis is unconscionable,’ 20 Republican senators wrote Biden on Monday.
‘Your administration claims these funds are only available for humanitarian use, but money is fungible, and there is a significant risk they could be used to further efforts by Iran or Hamas against Israel.’
Allowing the funds to flow into Iran’s economy ‘allows the Iranian regime to reallocate even more funds to supporting terrorism,’ they added, saying oversight of the funds is ‘not enough.’
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