Second Republican Debate; Graham Warns of Bombing Iran

Lindsey Graham, one of the fifteen Republican candidates for the U.S. presidential election, during the second group debate with his rivals, referred to Iran's nuclear program and stated that if he believes Tehran is close to acquiring nuclear weapons, he would 'definitely' bomb Iran. The second debate of the fifteen Republican candidates for the 2016 U.S. presidential election took place on Wednesday, September 16, at the Reagan Presidential Library in California, where part of the discussion focused on Iran's nuclear program and the Vienna agreement. Lindsey Graham, a senator from South Carolina, called Iran's nuclear program a 'nightmare' for Israel and emphasized that he would prevent this country from acquiring nuclear weapons at the cost of bombing Iran. According to the Associated Press, Senator Graham also promised that if he reaches the White House, he would annul the Vienna nuclear agreement and seek a better deal that would prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. A similar approach towards the Vienna nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers was also adopted by Ted Cruz, another Republican candidate in the debate. According to Reuters, Ted Cruz, a senator from Texas, stated that he believes the Vienna agreement should be torn up and discarded. However, Rand Paul, a senator from Kentucky, and Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, emphasized that the next U.S. president should not immediately annul the Vienna agreement. According to Mr. Bush, tearing up and discarding an agreement is not considered a strategy; rather, if he wins the election, he would strengthen U.S. ties with Israel, which he believes is more effective than any other approach. Rand Paul also stated that tearing up the Vienna nuclear agreement is unreasonable because Congress has failed to prevent it, and therefore this agreement must be implemented. George Pataki, the former governor of New York, proposed that U.S.-Israel cooperation is necessary to ensure that Iran never obtains nuclear weapons. Finally, Rick Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, stated that on the very first day of his presidency, he would tell the Iranian government that they must open their nuclear facilities for inspection, and 'otherwise, we will destroy those facilities.' The Vienna nuclear agreement faced strong opposition from Republican members of Congress, but despite Republicans holding a majority in Congress, they have not been able to gather enough votes to vote on this agreement.