{"text":[[{"start":11,"text":"Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, says Donald Trump should “finish the job” in Iran and resume military strikes if Tehran continues to be “provocative”."}],[{"start":22.4,"text":"Graham’s remarks to the FT come as the war, which has ignited a global energy crisis and sent petrol prices soaring, faces growing political opposition at home, including from fellow Republicans. A Washington Post-ABC News poll this week found fewer than two in 10 Americans believed the US actions in Iran had been successful."}],[{"start":43.349999999999994,"text":"US officials estimated this week that the war has so far cost $25bn. Three weeks into an uneasy ceasefire, Washington has also failed to bring about the collapse of the Iranian regime, the US capture of Iran’s nuclear stockpile or even the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — the critical waterway that Iran closed after the war began, pushing up energy prices."}],[{"start":66.39999999999999,"text":"Graham says the US needs to “open up the strait” to break the stalemate and that this will require harsher military action. "}],[{"start":73.69999999999999,"text":"“We have the capability to increase ship flow,” he said in an interview on Thursday. The US should do “whatever combination of events is necessary to start the flow” of ships and “take the leverage away from Iran”."}],[{"start":86.79999999999998,"text":"“Between the blockade, which has been brilliantly executed, and letting Iran know that Kharg Island is in play, hopefully that will create some deterrence,” he said, referring to Iran’s oil export hub. “If it doesn’t, [we need to] just stand up to Iran, don’t let them get away with blackmailing the world.”"}],[{"start":105.49999999999999,"text":"Graham, 70, who is running for re-election this year to serve a fifth six-year term in the US Senate, is a polarising figure in Washington — but he has the president’s ear."}],[{"start":116.29999999999998,"text":"For years, Graham brandished his credentials as a maverick willing to work across the political aisle. He was a constant ally to the late Arizona senator John McCain, a Trump critic. When Trump began his campaign for president in 2015, Graham blasted him as “a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” who should “go to hell”. "}],[{"start":136.64999999999998,"text":"But after Trump won, Graham remade himself into a formidable Trump ally and confidant. The transformation of the South Carolina senator from a lawmaker warning of Trump’s “complete lack of understanding” about global politics into one of the most skilled Trump whisperers on Capitol Hill has drawn both praise and criticism."}],[{"start":157.64999999999998,"text":"If Graham has proved a chameleon on some things, his views on Iran have been consistent."}],[{"start":163.29999999999998,"text":"“Hit Iran. Blow ’em off the map,” he said in 2023. "}],[{"start":167.6,"text":"“Don’t underrate killing them all,” he said in 2018. "}],[{"start":171.6,"text":"“Destroy the air force, sink their navy,” he urged in 2011."}],[{"start":176.65,"text":"“If you want to stump Lindsey, just ask him to name a country he wouldn’t bomb,” Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana wrote in a recent memoir."}],[{"start":185.65,"text":"Graham has been among the most influential of the war’s cheerleaders and critical each time Trump has veered towards a negotiated settlement. "}],[{"start":193.6,"text":"“It’ll be hard for me to find a good deal other than the regime leaving,” Graham told the FT in January before the start of the war, as Trump said a US attack could still be avoided through a deal. "}],[{"start":205.35,"text":"“I look forward to the architects of this proposal . . . coming forward to Congress and explaining how a negotiated deal meets our national security objectives in Iran,” Graham wrote on X last month, when Trump again began seeking a deal with the Islamic republic to end the war."}],[{"start":222.65,"text":"Graham has nonetheless maintained his clout as a frequent, unofficial adviser to the president, his supporters say. But his vocal support for an increasingly unpopular war has also exposed some of the deepening rifts within Trump’s Maga movement, as the war has angered the isolationist wing of the president’s base."}],[{"start":240.8,"text":"“Lindsey Graham needs to be removed from the Situation Room,” Representative Nancy Mace, a fellow Republican and South Carolinian, wrote on X in March after Graham told Fox News he was asking his constituents “to send their sons and daughters over to the Mideast” to join the war effort."}],[{"start":258.90000000000003,"text":"Far-right TV host Tucker Carlson, a former Trump ally who last year endorsed a different Republican, Paul Dans, for the South Carolina Senate race, called Graham a “PR shill” for Israel instead of the US."}],[{"start":273.05,"text":"Graham faces a crowded Republican primary election next month that he is still expected to win, backed by a $5mn Super Pac funded by pro-Israel billionaires such as Larry Ellison, Miriam Adelson, Paul Singer, Marc Rowan, Ronald Lauder, Stephen Ross, John Paulson and Nelson Peltz. He seems unbothered by the criticism from within his party."}],[{"start":296.7,"text":"“We have a different worldview,” he told the FT of his GOP critics. "}],[{"start":301.34999999999997,"text":"“They wanted out of Iraq. They were all supporting the withdrawal from Afghanistan . . . They’re OK with things I’m not OK with. They think radical Islam is contained. I don’t. So their criticism is based on a different view of the threats we face.”"}],[{"start":316.65,"text":"“I’m proud of President Trump for pushing through,” he added. "}],[{"start":321.4,"text":"Trump on Friday told reporters that he now had two options in Iran: “Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever, or do we want to try and make a deal?”"}],[{"start":333,"text":"Asked whether he would accept an outcome that leaves the regime in power, Graham said he would so long as the regime changed its behaviour."}],[{"start":341.5,"text":"“They can’t develop a nuclear weapon, [and] they will no longer be able to be the largest state sponsor of terrorism,” he said. "}],[{"start":347.95,"text":"“I’m hoping that people one day can regain their freedom, but the goal for me is to make sure that the behaviour of the regime changes. If you can do that diplomatically, great, if you got to do other means, then so be it.” "}],[{"start":368.45,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1777734422_9211.mp3"}