Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, says Donald Trump should “finish the job” in Iran and resume military strikes if Tehran continues to be “provocative”.
Graham’s remarks to the FT come as the war, which has ignited a global energy crisis and sent petrol prices soaring, faces growing political opposition at home, including from fellow Republicans. A Washington Post-ABC News poll this week found fewer than two in 10 Americans believed the US actions in Iran had been successful.
US officials estimated this week that the war has so far cost $25bn. Three weeks into an uneasy ceasefire, Washington has also failed to bring about the collapse of the Iranian regime, the US capture of Iran’s nuclear stockpile or even the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — the critical waterway that Iran closed after the war began, pushing up energy prices.