Graham on Iran deal – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday said he thinks the tentative deal between the U.S. and Iran will fail.
“If you don’t have a diplomatic path through the MOU, then you have to go to war, or some other form of coercion,” Graham told CBS News’s “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan, referring to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between both countries.
“Let’s try this, let’s try a diplomatic solution,” he added. “I think it’s going to fail.”
Graham suggested that if the deal fails, President Trump “is going to take the Strait of Hormuz over by force” and charge a fee . Trump said he spoke directly to Iran’s government and warned that the U.S. will “hit” their country “if Iran continues to attack Israel in Lebanon.”
“When you use Hezbollah to attack Israel, I think the new policy will be, ‘We will attack Iran,'” the senator continued.
The South Carolina Republican also described his reversal on the $300 billion that would go toward Iran’s reconstruction, having previously compared it to delivering the Marshall Plan to post-World War II Germany “with the Nazis still in charge.”
“Because before I thought the money was coming from the West,” Graham told Brennan. “Can you imagine if Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates invest $300 billion in Iran? That would tell me that Iran has changed.”
Graham suggested that the $300 billion would not be enough to help with Iran’s reconstruction, nor that it would result in Iran and the Gulf states becoming business partners.
Trump previously dismissed reports about the $300 billion fund going to Iran, calling it “fake news” and stating that the U.S. will have no involvement in it. During the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, on Wednesday, he said that people can decide to invest in Iran.
“Do you want me to say nobody’s ever allowed to invest in a country? We are not investing in it, and we do not have a fund,” he told reporters, adding that the U.S. has not asked Gulf countries to invest in Iran.
One of the 14 points of the MOU states, “The United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Talks between the U.S. and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program kicked off on Sunday in Switzerland , with Vice President Vance meeting with Iranian officials. The meeting comes days after the U.S. and Iran signed the MOU, which provides a 60-day timeframe to determine the outcome of Iran’s nuclear program and come to a final agreement.
Vance on Saturday praised the “record-breaking” flow of oil out of the strait, claiming there was no evidence of Iran shutting down the strait . Iranian officials again cited Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said 67 ships traveled through the strait on Saturday. Another 55 vessels, with the help of U.S. military escorts, passed through a southern route in the channel on Friday.
