US Senator Lindsey Graham has warned Iran that if the Middle East escalates, the US military may strike its oil industry. The congressman said he would introduce a resolution to that effect, citing fears that Iran-backed Hezbollah may join the combat between Israel and Hamas.
Graham said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday that Hezbollah is a “proxy of Iran” and that a “massive attack on Israel” by the Lebanon-based militant group would pose a “existential” threat to the Jewish state.
The Republican foreign policy hawk warned that he would draught a Senate resolution “to allow military action by the United States in conjunction with Israel to knock Iran out of the oil business.”
“Iran, if you escalate this war, we’re coming for you,” Graham concluded.
Appearing on Al Jazeera on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian cautioned that “it is highly probable that many other fronts will be opened” unless Israel stops striking Gaza. He also urged Muslim nations to support the Palestinian cause, echoing earlier calls by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Amir-Abdollahian indicated on Saturday that Hezbollah could hit northern Israel, producing a “huge earthquake.” Iran would respond if Israel launches a ground invasion in Gaza, according to two diplomatic sources reported by Axios.
Reuters reported on Sunday that Iranian delegates at the UN clarified that “Iran’s armed forces will not engage” until Israel first attacks them.
In addition to the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the deployment of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, two guided-missile destroyers, and a guided-missile cruiser to the Eastern Mediterranean on Saturday.
Austin stated that the decision was made to dissuade “any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war.”
