Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) this week called for the United States and Israel to bomb Iran's oil infrastructure even without what a CNN host called "direct evidence of [Iranian] involvement" in Hamas's attack on Israel.
"What I would do is I would bomb Iran's oil infrastructure," Graham told CNN host Abby Phillip. "The money financing terrorism comes from Iran. It's time for this terrorist state to pay a price for financing and supporting all this chaos."
When Phillip asked if Graham "would want the United States and Israel to bomb Iran even in the absence of direct evidence of their involvement in this attack," Graham said, "Yeah."
Graham's comments come as different sources debate the extent of Iran's involvement in Hamas's attack, which killed thousands of people, including at least 25 Americans, and allowed the terrorist group to take hundreds of hostages. The Wall Street Journal, citing "senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah," reported soon after Hamas's initial massacre of Israelis that Iranian government officials helped plan the attack.
The Biden administration and U.S. intelligence sources have said, however, that they haven't seen evidence of Iran's direct involvement in Hamas's slaughter. The Washington Post reported Monday that Iran "provided military training and logistical help as well as tens of millions of dollars for weapons," according to U.S. intelligence sources, but that "U.S. and Israeli officials said they have no firm evidence so far that Iran authorized or directly coordinated the attack."
Graham said that "the Wall Street Journal reporting will prove to be correct over time" but suggested that those distinctions don't matter.
"If there's an escalation, Abby," Graham said, "if there's people's throats being cut on television as Israel goes into Gaza, they're threatening to kill the hostages, if Hezbollah is unleashed on Israel in the north, it will be because Iran is supporting that. If you don't get the connection between Iran and this terrorist activity by Hamas and Hezbollah, you're missing a lot."