A bipartisan group of senators introduced a resolution urging President Biden to keep all options on the table, including the use of military force, if Iran or its proxies attack Israel or the greater region. The group hopes the resolution will send a clear message to Iran to stay out of the Israel-Hamas war.
“Iran you expand this war, there won’t be an [authorization for use of military force], we don’t need one,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. “Just go for it. Just knock you out, you know, hit you where it hurts.”
“We want to avoid any stupid mistakes on the part of Iran, any recklessness,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said.
The resolution doesn’t require the president to do anything, but it’s a clear message that the chamber supports retaliatory strikes if Iran or an Iran-supported entity escalates the current war.
The resolution would apply to attacks from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hamas, Hezbollah or any other group which Iran has provided financing, training or other forms of support. It also encourages the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia to keep working to normalize relations between the Jewish state and Arab world leader.
“The worst nightmare for Iran, as I said before, is for the Arab world to reconcile Israel and move toward the light away from the darkness,” Graham said.
The group commended Biden for moving naval assets to the Eastern Mediterranean, but said he should do more to sanction Iran. According to the group, that should include strengthening sanctions on Iran’s economy, oil industry and ballistic missiles.
“There is a whole suite of things we can be doing right now as a country to weaken Iran and choke them off,” Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said. “This is not kinetic. This is just good old fashioned, hard reimposition of serious sanctions.
The U.S. has carried out airstrikes on targets in Syria linked to Iran-backed militias, but the senators said the president should hit Iranian Revolutionary Guard bases inside Iran if an American service member is killed by an Iranian strike.
At least 50 American military members have been injured in Iranian-linked attacks since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas.
The resolution was introduced by:
- Sen. Lindsey Graham.
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
- Sen. Dan Sullivan.
- Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala.
- Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
- Sen. Susan Collins R-Maine.
- Sen. Jacky Rosen D-Nev.
- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.