CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- Sen. Lindsey Graham urged Iran to "choose wisely" by opening up the Strait of Hormuz and pursuing a peace deal with the U.S. after a conversation with President Donald Trump.
"A massive military operation awaits Iran if they choose poorly," Graham, a Republican, posted on X shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday. "This regime has been severely crippled through Operation Epic Fury. Their reign of terror against the region and the world needs to come to an end, hopefully through a peace deal."
The senator said that after speaking with Trump, he is "completely convinced" the U.S. will use "overwhelming military force" in the region if the Strait of Hormuz does not reopen imminently and if a "diplomatic solution to achieve our military objectives" is refused.
"If it's not clear to Iran and others by now that President Trump means what he says then I don't know when it will ever be," he added. "Choose wisely."
Graham's comments, which echo statements he made earlier in the week suggesting he wanted the war to "wind down," came less than an hour after Trump posted a 48-hour "notice" for Iran to reopen the crucial trade route on Truth Social, in which he warned that "all Hell will reign down on them" if they do not.
"Glory be to GOD!" the president added.
Graham said he "totally" supports the president's ultimatum.
The senator was an enthusiastic backer of U.S. military action in Iran when Operation Epic Fury began in February, posting multiple times a day on X and making the rounds on national media proclaiming his unrepentant support. When the operation began, he said his "mind was racing" at the thought of the downfall of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and praised Trump's decision to launch an attack on the Middle Eastern nation.
Graham has spent much of his federal career, which began in the 1990s, backing policies to isolate Iran and limit its missile and nuclear programs in addition to frequently arguing for direct military intervention. Cato Institute Research Fellow John Hoffman told the Associated Press that Graham was "essentially a child on Christmas morning who has gotten everything that he's ever dreamed of" as Operation Epic Fury unfolded.
After stating he was coming to South Carolina to ask it to send its "sons and daughters over to the Mideast" and encouraging the president to "take" and "control" Iran's major oil hub Kharg Island earlier in March, the latter of which he rationalized by pointing to the fact that the U.S. emerged victorious from the five-week Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II, Graham drew ire from within his own party. Fellow South Carolinian Rep. Nancy Mace rebuked the senator's Iwo Jima comments, while Florida Representative and Air Force Veteran Anna Paulina Luna said she was left "deeply upset" by them.
Since those comments, Graham has taken a more measured approach to the war as he begins hitting the campaign trail ahead of June's primary elections.
"I support diplomatic efforts to end the conflict consistent with our military objectives," he said on Monday. "Wind down the war and wind up efforts for an historic peace deal," he added.
As of April 3,13 US service members have been killed and a further 365 have been wounded during Operation Epic Fury, Military.com reports, as search operations remain underway for a missing F-15 pilot who was shot down over southwestern Iran and reports emerge of an A-10 Warthog going down over the Persian Gulf.