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Graham’s death and Iran
Senator Lindsey Graham, a prominent Republican ally of President Donald Trump, died at 71 on Saturday evening after a preliminary finding by the Washington DC medical examiner said he died of an "aortic dissection" caused by cardiovascular disease.
“died of an "aortic dissection" caused by cardiovascular disease”
The USA Today account tied Graham’s foreign-policy legacy to Iran, saying he was a vocal supporter of US intervention abroad "from Iran and Iran to Israel and Ukraine" and that Trump’s second-term direction included a war with Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile program.
The BBC reported Graham had just returned from a trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, and it said Graham had strongly supported the war in Iran.
The Hill added that Netanyahu said Graham was "very clear" about knocking out Iran’s nuclear program prior to his death, describing Graham’s message to him as a call to "knock out these nuclear weapons program before they knock us out."
Iran’s response and US talk
Iran’s reaction to Graham’s death was hostile, with Tehran describing him as "malicious" and its foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei saying, "Our people will not mourn a man whose philosophy on life was aggression and intimidation."
In the same period, The New Republic reported that President Donald Trump used Graham’s death to dodge questions about the Iran conflict during a Sunday talk show appearance, after CNN’s Jake Tapper asked, "Are we back at war, and who controls the Strait of the Hormuz?"
Trump responded by saying, "Well I don’t want to—out of respect for Lindsey, I’m not talking about that," and he added that "We hit ’em very hard last night" before continuing to speak about Iran’s actions.
The New Republic also said Trump alleged Iran’s leaders had been "giving up everything" during talks on Saturday before they turned on a dime, hitting "a ship with a drone."
What’s at stake next
Graham’s death landed as the US-Iran confrontation remained active in the Strait of Hormuz, with The Hill saying Trump’s comments came days after he said the interim deal with Iran appeared to be "over," and it described Iran announcing the Strait of Hormuz is again closed after firing at the Cyprus-flagged container ship GFS Galaxy.
“the fragile interim deal with Iran appears to be “over,””
The Hill reported that after the attack and closure, there was a third round of U.S. strikes, and it quoted Graham’s last-month position that the US "would have to go to war" or another form of "coercion" if the interim deal did not hold.
AP News framed Graham as a key figure in a muscular foreign-policy approach that was fading in Washington, quoting Paul Foldi saying, "In an increasingly isolationist America, Sen. Graham was one of the last titans of the Senate who favored a muscular and engaged U.S. foreign policy."
In parallel, the BBC said South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has the power to appoint a temporary replacement to serve out the remainder of Graham’s term, which ends in January, with the successor chosen in the November midterm elections and Republicans holding a 53-47 majority over Democrats in the Senate before Graham’s death.