Graham warns Iran could 'sprint to a nuclear weapon' before election, blames Biden 'failure'

Sen. Lindsey Graham warned that Iran's march toward a nuclear weapon could turn into a "sprint" ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

The "failure" of President Biden and Vice President Harris could lead to Iran producing a nuclear weapon in the months ahead of the U.S. presidential election, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned on Sunday.

Graham, appearing on CBS’ "Face the Nation," said the Senate last week received a "stunning" report from the Director of National Intelligence about the status of the Iranian nuclear program.

"What I worry the most about is a sprint to a nuclear weapon," Graham said. "I am very worried that not only you could open up a second front [in Israel's war], but they could use these three or four months before our election to sprint to a nuclear weapon, and we have to put them on notice. That cannot happen."

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that Iran could produce fissile nuclear material in "one or two weeks."

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While Blinken blamed the collapse of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal – for Iran’s accelerated development, Graham pointed to Biden and Harris.

"Biden, Harris have been a colossal failure in terms of controlling the ayatollah," the senator said. "They've enriched him and Israel is paying the price."

Israeli authorities said a rocket from Lebanon struck a soccer field in the Golan Heights on Saturday, killing 12 children and teens in what the Israeli military called the deadliest attack on civilians since Oct. 7. 

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Israeli authorities have said the rocket was fired by the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah. Blinken said Sunday that "every indication" showed the rocket came from Hezbollah.

Graham said if Iran is not "put on notice" and held accountable for attacks on Israel carried out by its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas, they will continue to target the Jewish state.

"So until the Iranians believe they're going to get hit, that we start putting their oil refineries on a target list, you're going to get more of this when it comes to Iran," Graham warned.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.