Lindsey Graham warns Iran if war grows in Israel, ‘it’s coming to your backyard’

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday accused Iran of involvement in Hamas’ deadly surprise attack on Israel – and warned Tehran that any escalation of the war would have consequences.

“We’re here today to tell Iran: ‘We’re watching you. If this war grows, it’s coming to your backyard,’” Graham said from Tel Aviv while joining a delegation of 10 senators on a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia.

“There won’t be two fronts, there’ll be three,” he continued, without elaborating on the fiery threat.

“The idea that this happened without Iranian involvement is laughable,” Graham added.

Since Hamas’ sneak invasion on Israel on Oct. 7, there have been heightened fears about Hezbollah – the Lebanese terrorist group backed by Tehran – opening up a second front on the north.

Israeli officials have threatened to launch a full-scale military attack against Iran if Hezbollah joins the ongoing war.

“The plan of Iran is to attack Israel on all fronts. If we find they intend to target Israel, we will not just retaliate to those fronts, but we will go to the head of the snake, which is Iran,” Nir Barkat, Israel’s Minister of Economy, told the Daily Mail on Friday.

Iran-backed Hezbollah is equipped with much more sophisticated missiles than Hamas and is fixated to Israel’s north in Lebanon.

Iran, a Shiite-dominated theocracy, has also long been a backer of Hamas, a Sunni group that rules the Gaza Strip and is designated a terrorist organization by the US.

Last week, Graham, a prominent hawkish foreign policy voice in the GOP, dangled the prospect of US military retaliation against Tehran if Hezbollah jumps into the war raging in Israel.

“I just got off the phone with the Israelis. Their goal is to destroy Hamas in the south and try to save as many innocent Palestinians as possible to prevent escalation north from Hezbollah,” Graham said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last Sunday.

“Here’s my message. If Hezbollah, which is a proxy of Iran, launches a massive attack on Israel, I would consider that a threat to the state of Israel, existential in nature,” he continued. “Iran, if you escalate this war, we’re coming for you.”

Other Republican senators attempted to downplay the comments.

“I think, you know, Senator Graham speaks his own mind on these issues,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) told reporters last week about his threat to Iran.

Thune was among the nine other senators who joined Graham on the trip to the Jewish state.

Other senators in the bipartisan delegation include Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) Chris Coons (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dan Sullivan (R-Alas.) Jack Reed (D-RI), Katie Britt (R-Alab.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.), and Susan Collins (R-Me.)

“We’re here today to give Israel what they need to do the job of destroying the modern day version of Nazis — Hamas,” Graham declared at the Sunday press conference.

He likened Hamas to ISIS and contended that destroying the terror group is “non-negotiable.”

“I have never seen anything like this in my lifetime,” Graham continued. “How does this end? Israel thrives, they survive, Hamas is destroyed, the Palestinian people have a better life. That’s how this has to end.”

Cardin echoed Graham’s conviction about obliterating Hamas and also express support for seeking to revive efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia once the war ends.

“The immediate issue is to make sure Hamas can never do this again,” he said.

Last week, President Biden visited Israel and delivered a prime time address from the Oval Office seeking to gin up support for a roughly $106 billion supplemental package featuring $14.3 billion in support for Israel and $61.4 billion for Ukraine.