Lindsey Graham, the veteran Republican senator who has been pushing for war against Iran for decades, has issued a dire warning to the Iranian government, saying it was worth spending money to “take this regime down”.

“When this regime goes down, we are going to have a new Middle East, and we are going to make a tonne of money,” Graham, a longtime proponent of US military intervention abroad, told Fox News on Sunday.

Graham, a Trump ally who has been one of the US Congress’s most vocal supporters of Israel and the war against Iran, appeared to suggest that the US abduction of Venezuela’s left-wing leader Nicolas Maduro and the attack on Iran were launched to gain control over each country’s oil supplies.

“Venezuela and Iran have 31 percent of the world’s oil reserves. We’re going to have a partnership with 31 percent of the known reserves. This is China’s nightmare. This is a good investment,” said Graham.

US wants to ‘partition country, take oil’

The US-Israeli attacks on Tehran, Graham said, will further escalate over the coming two weeks. The US was going to “blow the hell out of these people”, Graham said, adding “nobody will threaten [the US] in the Strait of Hormuz again”.

“This regime is in a death throe now, it is gonna be on its knees, it’s going to fall, and when it falls we’re going to have peace like no other time, we’re going to have prosperity unlike anyone could ever imagine,” Graham told Fox News.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has stated that there is currently no evidence or indication of a systematic, ongoing programme to produce a nuclear weapon by Iran.

Previous US administrations stayed away from military actions. President Barack Obama signed a nuclear deal in 2015 that put a curb on the Iranian nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. However, Netanyahu opposed the deal. Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 during his first term.

Graham backed almost all Middle East wars

Graham, regarded as one of the most hawkish senators, has backed almost all the military interventions in the Middle East in the past two decades, including the disastrous 2003 Iraq War that devastated the country. More than 270,000 Iraqi civilians were killed as a direct result of the war.

The US invaded Iraq in 2003, causing the country to descend into political chaos and giving rise to armed groups like al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). US troops withdrew partially in 2009, although some of them remained to train Iraqi security forces.

Graham also backed military interventions in Syria and Libya, which ravaged the two countries. Libya is still divided, controlled by two competing factions, while Syria’s transitional government has been able to extend control over most parts of the country very recently under President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who became the de facto leader after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. More than 300,000 people were killed, and about half of Syria’s pre-war population was displaced, causing a refugee crisis that reached Europe.

During his interview, Graham called on the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to launch strikes on Iran. “Yeah. I want them to get into the fight. We sell them weapons. Iran is striking their country; they have good capability.”

In retaliation for the US and Israeli attacks, Iran launched significant missile and drone attacks on Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain, targeting US military bases and critical infrastructure.

On Monday, Graham criticised Saudi Arabia for not joining the war on Iran.

“Americans are dying and the US is spending billions to dislodge the terrorist Iranian regime that threatens the region. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia seems to be issuing statements and doing things in the background that are marginally helpful,” he posted on X.

“Hopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard. If you are not willing to use your military now, when are you willing to use it?”

Graham’s interview also suggested that the White House may next be turning its attention to Cuba.

“You see this hat? ‘Free Cuba.’ Stay tuned. The liberation of Cuba is upon us. We’re marching through the world. We’re clearing out the bad guys. Cuba is next.”

Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio – the son of Cuban immigrants – have made no secret of their desire to bring about government change in Havana, which has been under a US trade embargo for decades after Fidel Castro led the revolution that toppled the pro-US dictator in 1959.

Washington re-established ties with Havana in 2015 under President Obama, but Trump reversed the policy during his first term as president.