Lindsey Graham reveals: the target was not an Iranian nuke – but the regime

Graham explained that Trump came to the conclusion that Tehran cannot be trusted in the nuclear deal – and this is one of the main reasons that led to the decision to act with military force instead of diplomacy. “This operation will be huge in scope and its goal is the elimination of the regime, as the Iranian people demand,” Graham said, adding: “It has been my dream for so long – that the Ayatollah’s murderous regime will be replaced by people who aspire to a better life for themselves and their country.”

Graham, like Trump, acknowledged the risk to American forces during the operation. “If there are any casualties or injuries in this operation, I can say without hesitation that they sacrificed for a noble cause – a safer America and a more just world,” he told The Wall Street Journal.

The senator added that leaving the regime in place was dangerous: “The result of leaving the regime in place, after all the terrorism and the murder of 30,000 of its own citizens, was catastrophic for America’s national security” – referring to estimates regarding the number of Iranians killed during the suppression of protests in January.

Graham, who has taken harsh positions towards Tehran over the years, anticipated that the collapse of the Iranian regime might re-motivate efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. “When the regime collapses, the region will move towards a new dawn, and normalization will continue from the point where it stopped,” he said – and called it “the greatest regional prize of all”, as reported in the “Wall Street Journal”.