Name: Lindsey Graham says it’s ‘not our job’ to pick Iran’s leader after Khamenei's death: Full interview
Uploaded: 2026-03-01T23:04:54.000Z
Duration: 13 min 37 s
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And joining me now is Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Senator Graham, welcome back to Meet the Press.

Thank you for having me on such a historic day.

Thank you for being here on an historic morning.

Senator, let me start with the big question.

I don't know if this is technically a war, but we're.

Here's what I can say the headline is for me.

The largest state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, is close to collapsing.

The leader of the largest state sponsor of terrorism and his inner team are dead.

The mothership that fuels the proxies is in sinking mode.

The goal of this operation is to change the threat, not the regime.

When this operation is over, no matter who takes over in Iran, they will not have ballistic missiles to hurt us, Israel or the region.

They will not have the capability to be the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

Whether it's a cleric or a group of representative of the country.

Where there's an election, it doesn't matter right now.

Iran in the future will no longer be the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

Again, the mothership of terrorism is sinking.

It's been the policy of this country for decades to eliminate this regime.

Admiral Cooper came out with a military plan.

When it is done, Iran will no longer be capable of being the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

That is the goal, and that goal will be achieved.

Senator, let me ask you, because, as you are saying, the leader, the Ayatollah supreme Leader, is dead.

Will the United States pick the next leader of Iran or will the Iranian people pick the next leader?

There will be no American boots on our ground.

We're going to free the people up from a terrorist regime.

And the goal is not only to help the Iranian people to chart a new destiny, to make sure no matter who takes over in Iran, no matter who it is, no matter who the people pick, they cannot become the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

They can't fuel Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas.

They will be out of the terrorism business.

So the people will pick as to the people choose wisely.

We'd like to have a good relationship with you going forward.

What am I going to do next when this regime can no longer threaten the region?

I'm going to build on what I did with President Biden to try to get Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize.

If the fall of this regime would lead to normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, the center of gravity for Islam is Saudi Arabia, the one and only Jewish state.

If they could make peace and have a normal relationship because this regime fell, it would be historic.

Normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel is a historic deal.

That's where I'm going to spend my time and energy.

You did something everybody talked about.

The goal of this operation is to make sure there will never be in Iran a state sponsor of terrorism to rain havoc on us and the region.

Senator, history tells us just how complicated regime change is.

We saw that when Saddam Hussein was ousted in a terror threat and group moved in.

How will the United States make sure that the next Iranian government isn't worse than the current regime?

It's not our job to pick the next Iranian government.

I don't remember being attacked by Iraq anytime.

You know, in the past, Iraq is complicated, but, you know, we, we have a relationship with Iraq.

We're going to give the people of Iran a chance to do something they've never had before, chart their own destiny.

We're going to take away from any future regime the ability, any future government the ability to have a ballistic missile program, a nuclear program, or support terrorism.

And if out of this comes a new government that we can do business with, great.

But having Iran no longer the state sponsor of terrorism opens up historic opportunities.

We'll never get to where we want to go as long as Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

And I'm here to tell you the the largest state sponsor of terrorism the mothership of terrorism is sinking and the captain is dead.

And a lot of good things are going to follow.

Senator, let's talk about the strategy moving forward.

In a social media post Sunday, President Trump wrote this.

Quote, hopefully, the IRGC and police will peacefully merge with the Iranian patriots and work together as a unit to bring back the country to the greatness it deserves.

The future of Iran is going to be determined by the Iranian people.

The new Iran, whatever it is, whether it's a cleric or a representative democracy, our goal is to make sure it cannot become again the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

Is there a plan to make sure that happens?