'A step backward': Lindsey Graham dumps all over Trump's 'ceasefire'
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) warned that President Donald Trump's effort to negotiate a ceasefire between Iran and Israel could be "a step backward."
During a Tuesday interview on Fox News, Graham said he was not optimistic about the ceasefire.
"I want to praise President Trump and his team for Operation Midnight Hammer," Graham said. "As to the ceasefire, it's a good thing if it leads to peace. It will be a step backward if it leads to the ability of Iran to rearm and retool."
"And the head atomic scientists in Iran, the one who's still alive, said they're going right back to enrichment," he continued. "So I'm not so sure we've solved the problem yet."
"Would I characterize you as optimistic in this moment?" Fox News host Sandra Smith asked.
"I will not be optimistic until I hear the Iranian regime say publicly, we recognize Israel's right to exist as a nation and the Jewish people's right to live in peace with the rest of the region," Graham insisted. "When they say that, I will have a sense of optimism I don't have today."
"There can be no peace between Iran and Israel until Iran decides to change your policy, which is the regime policy of destroying the state of Israel and killing all the Jews," he added. "Until that changes, nothing really changes. The program has been decimated, but the people who are in charge will come right back at Israel."
"So I'm looking for regime change in this sense: for Iran to abandon its desire to destroy Israel, to recognize Israel's right to exist as a nation."