CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- As President Donald Trump has offered mixed messages on when America may see an end to its war with Iran, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham remains in complete support of continued military intervention.
Sen. Graham, speaking to Fox News about the conflict with Iran, said he wants countries in the Middle East to be upfront in their dealings -- the same approach he said he will take when asking South Carolinians to contribute to the conflict.
"I'm going back to South Carolina, I am asking them to send their sons and daughters to the Mid-East," Graham said. "What I want you to do in the Mid-East, my friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, step forward and say this is my fight too."
Graham's comments received attention from U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who replied in a social media post asking what would "possess anyone to say this?"
"I do not want to send South Carolina's sons and daughters into war with Iran," Mace followed up in a separate post.
On Tuesday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the public that it would be the "most intense day of strikes inside Iran" since the conflict started.
Hegseth's statement came shortly after he said that "the last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest amount of missiles they have fired yet."
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same news conference that the U.S. military is moving into the 11th day of its operation against Iran.
Hegseth, who last week claimed the conflict could last three to eight weeks, also said it was up to Trump to assess whether the U.S. is moving toward the "beginning, middle or end." Estimates indicate the airstrikes in the U.S. and Israeli strikes in Iran killed approximately 1,300 people. Iran's strikes across the Middle East are estimated to have killed at least 30 people.
Israeli strikes have killed almost 500 people in Lebanon, state media reported.
In an interview with The New York Post, President Trump said he is "nowhere near" ordering U.S. troops into Iran. He also played down a possible operation to retrieve highly enriched uranium from an underground facility near Isfahan after several news reports said it was an option.
"We haven't made any decision on that," Trump said. "We're nowhere near it."
Despite Trump's noncommittal messaging, Graham is undeterred in his unfettered support of regime change in Iran, which selected a new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
"We have a commander and chief that is clear-eyed," Graham said. "He tried diplomacy. He tried to give them what they say they want. They told us to go to hell. So, President Trump, not only did you do the right thing; you did it in the nick of time."