Lindsey Graham says US will 'make a tonne of money’ on Iran war

US Senator Lindsey Graham has said the US could make "a tonne of money" from the war against Iran, arguing that the fall of Tehran’s government would reshape the Middle East and give Washington greater access to global oil reserves.

"When this regime goes down, we are going to have a new Middle East, and we are going to make a tonne of money," the Republican senator said during an interview with Fox News.

Graham, one of the most vocal supporters in the US Congress of Israel and military action against Iran, framed the conflict in economic as well as strategic terms, linking it to control of major oil reserves.

"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," he said.

The senator suggested that the US and Israeli attacks on Iran would escalate in the coming weeks, warning that Washington was prepared to intensify the campaign.

"We’re going to blow the hell out of these people," Graham said, adding that "nobody will threaten [the US] in the Strait of Hormuz again".

He also predicted the collapse of Iran’s leadership, saying: "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."

The remarks come amid a widening conflict after the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on 28 February. Tehran has responded with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and Gulf countries that host US military bases.

The war has disrupted global energy markets, with oil prices rising above $100 a barrel and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz increasingly threatened.

Iranian officials have accused Washington of attempting to seize the country’s oil resources under the guise of military action.

"Their design is clear, their enterprise is quite obvious - they aim at partitioning our country to take illegal possession of our oil riches," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.

"Their objective is to violate our sovereignty, defeat our people and undermine our humanity," he added.

Graham has long advocated military action against Iran and is regarded as one of the most hawkish voices in US foreign policy debates.

He was an outspoken supporter of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, which was also backed by Graham's close friend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and cost the US trillions and massively destabilised the region, the ramifications of which are still being felt today.

As many as 400,000 Iraqi civilians were killed as a direct result of the war, according to various estimates. The war also directly influenced the creation of the Islamic State group (IS) and massively boosted the profile of Al-Qaeda around the world.

Critics say that pro-Israel hawks like Graham are essentially trying to sell the war to the US public, which overwhelmingly oppose the war, despite the war having a flimsy basis and a high likelihood of expanding and escalating, as well as causing further devastation in the Gulf and the loss of innocent Iranian life. 

Some critics believe Graham has put Israel's interests before that of the US, which spent around $6 billion in merely one week of the war.

In recent weeks, Graham has also pushed US allies in the Gulf to join the fight against Iran, calling on countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to launch strikes.

"Yeah. I want them to get into the fight. We sell them weapons," he said.

Graham has also described his contacts with Israeli officials during the lead-up to the conflict.

"They’ll tell me things our own government won’t tell me," he said.

According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, Graham also spoke with Netanyahu during visits to Israel, advising him on how to persuade US President Donald Trump to take military action against Iran.

Israel has long accused Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons, while Iran insists its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has said it has no evidence of a systematic Iranian programme to produce a nuclear weapon.