Secretary of State John Kerry is a "really decent guy," but "dangerously naïve" about the Iran nuclear deal — an agreement that has a 50-50 chance of approval in Congress, Sen. Lindsey Graham tells
Newsmax TV.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican and GOP presidential candidate, said Democrats argue that without the deal — in which Iran's nuclear capabilities are hobbled in exchange for economic sanctions being lifted — a war is inevitable.
Story continues below video.
Note: Watch Newsmax TV now on DIRECTV Ch. 349, DISH Ch. 223 and Verizon FiOS Ch. 115. Get Newsmax TV on your cable system — Click Here Now
"What would that war look like? And after you listen to the secretary, who's a really decent guy, really, he thought, well it'd be a tie. It won't be. We don't want a war with Iran," Graham said Thursday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
"I don't want a war with Iran but here's what I want Iran to know. Hey, you're losing. If they don't believe that we have the will to use the military option in a decisive fashion, we'll never get a good deal with Iran.
"And this idea of a war between the United States and Iran. If they choose to go down the war path, then they will lose it and they need to know that."
Graham said he believes Kerry is "dangerously naïve," about the consequences of the deal, which will release billions of dollars in frozen funds to the Middle East nation.
"The best indication of what Iran would do with more money and more weapons is the past, right? The future, that's predicted by the past. What are they doing? They're destabilizing the entire region," he said.
"They've toppled four Arab governments, they've provided lethal IEDs in the Iraq War that killed hundreds of Americans. They have … destroyed the state of Israel as much as they possibly could with conventional weapons. They plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador in the United States. So there's no doubt what they would do with more military capability.
"They would enact an agenda that is pretty clear. It's a religious agenda. They're trying to empower the Shia minorities throughout the world … This is a bad deal because the ayatollah gets more money and more weapons and a clear path to bomb. Here's what this deal does. It gives them a bomb, a missile to deliver it, and the money to pay for it."
Graham believes the ayatollah's ultimate mission — triggered by his religion — is "to destroy Israel and attack democracies like ours."
"In his version of Islam, the Jewish state cannot exist. When you understand that, you'd better understand what he's up to," Graham said.
"Why does everybody in Israel, left, right, and middle, object to this deal? Because they believe the ayatollah is a religious fanatic, that he's not trying to become a nuclear member, entering into the family of nations, that he has a religious agenda, he's the keeper of the faith and the faith compels him to destroy Israel."
But whether the Iran deal will be passed on Capitol Hill remains unclear, according to Graham.
"It's 50-50 and here's what I would say to my Democratic colleagues: if you vote against the deal, that means the next president — let's say it's Hillary Clinton — will have leverage to renegotiate a better deal with the Iranians," he said.
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.