How Lindsey Graham became one of Congress’ top Iran hawks
Tributes poured in Sunday for Senator Lindsey Graham, with colleagues and international leaders remembering the South Carolina Republican as a fierce foreign policy hawk whose career was defined by a decades-long campaign to confront Iran’s ruling regime.
Graham, 71, died Saturday night following what his office described as a “brief and sudden illness.” A fixture in Washington national security circles for three decades, Graham was serving his fourth term in the Senate and chaired the Senate Budget Committee at the time of his death.
“There are no words to describe his impact on the foreign and domestic policy of the United States,” GOP Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. “Lindsey served his beloved country in uniform and in the House and Senate. He stood solidly for freedom and strength and he fought for liberty across the globe. Lindsey Graham can be succeeded in office, but he cannot be replaced.”
An Air Force veteran and former state legislator, Graham entered the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, quickly establishing himself as an ardent proponent of isolating Tehran and curbing its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. He consistently argued that the Islamic Republic posed an existential threat to the United States, Israel, and Middle Eastern stability.
Graham championed a “maximum pressure” doctrine toward Tehran, aggressively advocating for crushing economic sanctions, military deterrence, and preemptive strikes against Iranian nuclear infrastructure. He was an outspoken critic of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated under President Barack Obama, and later lauded President Donald Trump’s decision last year to order military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
A National Security Partnership
For years, Graham’s foreign policy worldview was linked with his closest friend and mentor, the late Arizona Senator John McCain, who died in 2018. McCain was one of the Republican Party’s key advocates for a tough U.S. foreign policy, and Graham was his closest ally on many international issues, advocating sanctions, military pressure and a confrontational approach toward Tehran.
Though Graham fiercely criticized Trump when both ran for the presidency in 2015, the South Carolina senator later evolved into one of Trump’s closest confidants and most influential advisors. He frequently leveraged that unique relationship to lobby the White House for direct military action against Iranian provocations.
Following joint U.S. and Israeli military operations launched on February 28 aimed at degrading Tehran’s nuclear capabilities, Graham remained deeply engaged in the region’s shifting dynamics.
While initially skeptical of diplomatic overtures to end the war—warning in May that a premature deal would create a “nightmare for Israel”—Graham later called a June 17 memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Washington and Tehran “very promising.” However, that agreement has been pushed to the brink following recent U.S. retaliatory strikes on Iranian targets linked to attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tributes From Israel
Underscoring Graham’s status as a cornerstone of the U.S.-Israel alliance, Israel’s top leadership offered swift and solemn praise for the late senator on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Graham was a leader who deeply “understood the security of Israel and America are inseparable.”
“Israel has lost one of its greatest friends,” he added.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog remembered Graham as “a great friend of Israel,” while Defense Minister Israel Katz noted that the South Carolina senator consistently “stood with Israel in its most difficult moments.”
What Happens Next
Under South Carolina law, GOP Governor Henry McMaster will appoint an interim successor to fill Graham’s Senate seat until January. A separate special primary election will be held later this summer to determine the Republican nominee who will face Democratic challenger Annie Andrews in the November general election.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Daniel Orton and Anthony Murray.
