Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Wednesday evening that he endorses the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, arguing the agreement opens the Strait of Hormuz. Graham's statement, reported by Hebrew-language media, appears to reaffirm his reversal reported earlier Wednesday.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) publicly endorsed the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding on Wednesday evening, telling Israeli media: "The agreement opens the Strait of Hormuz and that's good." The comment, reported by multiple Israeli outlets at 19:21 Jerusalem, marks the latest point in a rapid sequence of shifts that played out over a single hour across Israeli news reports. Graham's new on-record statement follows an earlier report at 19:21 that he had reversed his skepticism after a call with White House envoy Steve Witkoff; earlier versions of the thread, also published at 19:21, described Graham first expressing openness and then moving to full endorsement, with one version citing a Trump threat to fire anyone who did not support the deal.
As The Zioneer reported at 22:13 Wednesday, the senator had previously opposed the framework. The thread, all six of whose versions carry the same published_at time of Tue Jun 16, 19:21 Jerusalem, shows the evolution: the earliest version had Graham expressing optimism about talks in general; successive versions introduced his openness to the MOU, a reported Trump threat, a reversal after the Witkoff call, and finally the explicit Strait of Hormuz rationale that the senator himself repeated. Across the thread, the only source cited is unnamed Israeli media reports; no direct quote from Graham appears in the thread beyond the paraphrased "opens the Strait of Hormuz and that's good," and no confirmation has come from Graham's own office or social media channels.
The MOU itself, as The Zioneer reported on Friday Jun 12 (00:07 Jerusalem), reportedly includes a 60-day ceasefire and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had partially blocked since early June. Background from the desk's archive notes that Israeli commentators have sharply criticized the framework: columnist Ariel Kahana of Israel Hayom compared it to the 1938 Munich Agreement, as reported by The Zioneer on Monday Jun 15 (00:10 Jerusalem). An Iranian research chief, cited by The Zioneer at 23:05 Tuesday, argued that the Hormuz closure gave Tehran leverage to secure the deal.
It remains unclear whether Graham has made any formal statement through his own office or social media. The thread's sole sourcing remains anonymous Israeli media reports, and no U.S. official — including the White House or Senator Graham — has independently confirmed the remarks or the reported call with Witkoff.
5 developments
- ConfirmedIran's Tasnim adds details on US-Iran MOU: last-minute changes, Hormuz opening delayed
- DevelopingSenator Graham: Stop restraining Israel, US should use military force if Iran does not sign deal immediately
- ConfirmedU.S. and Iran reportedly near agreement on nuclear freeze, sanctions relief, and Strait of Hormuz reopening
- StrongIranian source: Strait of Hormuz reopening to begin Friday after MoU signing
Source and signal
- Internal intake