Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has been a longtime proponent of taking down the Iranian dictatorship.
So why is the South Carolina lawmaker suddenly asking for the military strikes to stop hitting Iran?
As targets to continue to be pummeled across Iran, Graham took to social media to call out Israel for its Saturday strikes on 30 storage sites and other energy infrastructure in Iran, urging the US ally to be more careful about its target selection.
“Our allies in Israel have shown amazing capability when it comes to collapsing the murderous regime in Iran. America is most appreciative,” Graham wrote diplomatically on X.
“However, there will be a day soon that the Iranian people will be in charge of their own fate, not the murderous ayatollah’s regime. In that regard, please be cautious about what targets you select.”
Our allies in Israel have shown amazing capability when it comes to collapsing the murderous regime in Iran. America is most appreciative.
However, there will be a day soon that the Iranian people will be in charge of their own fate, not the murderous ayatollah’s regime.
In…
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 9, 2026
According to an Axios report, Israel had given the Trump administration advance notice of the strikes, which were intended to degrade Tehran’s infrastructure to fund its military activities. However, officials in the nation’s capitol were evidently caught off guard by the scale of the attack.
Top officials cited in the report, which Graham shared while delivering his pushback against Israel, feared that the strikes could motivate Iranians to rally around the regime.
“Our goal is to liberate the Iranian people in a fashion that does not cripple their chance to start a new and better life when this regime collapses,” Graham stressed.
“The oil economy of Iran will be essential to that endeavor.”
Graham has been one of the foremost advocates of Operation Epic Fury and has recently pushed Trump to bomb Hezbollah in Lebanon and liberate Cuba, according to multiple reports.
“You just wait to see what comes in the next two weeks,” Graham told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” regarding Operation Epic Fury in Iran.
“We’re going to blow the hell out of these people.”
However, much of Graham’s pro-military rhetoric has drawn ire and criticism from those within the Republican Party.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) remarked to reporters last week that Graham “hasn’t seen a fist fight he hasn’t wanted to turn into a bombing raid!”
Even President Trump himself has quipped at Graham’s eagerness to engage in the Middle East, saying in 2019 that he “would like to stay in the Middle East for the next thousand years.”
Meghan McCain, the daughter of his late Senate ally, John McCain, strongly urged the Trump administration to back away from listening to Graham in regards to diplomacy in the Middle East.
“I’ve known Lindsey Graham since I was a child,” Meghan McCain wrote. “I am imploring anyone who will listen in the Trump administration to stop sending this man out as a surrogate.”
“He is scaring people and doing damage to whatever message you’re trying to sell to the American public about the Iran war.”
I’ve known Lindsey Graham since I was a child. I am imploring anyone who will listen in the Trump administration to stop sending this man out as a surrogate. He is scaring people and doing damage to whatever message you’re trying to sell to the American public about the Iran war. https://t.co/8SjGsIfMzT
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) March 8, 2026
In a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday night, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told CBS News that President Trump is leaving every option open as Operation Epic Fury continues to pound Iranian military targets.
“We’re willing to go as far as we need in order to be successful,” Hegseth said. “We reserve the right. We would be completely unwise if we did not reserve the right to take any particular option, whether it included boots on the ground or not boots on the ground.”