US should help Israel strike Iran nuclear sites, Trump confidant says

The comments by the hawkish South Carolina senator who is a longtime Trump confidant are among the most direct yet by a senior decision-maker supporting a US military intervention on Iran.

"The next question for the world is what do we do about the Iran nuclear program," Graham told CBS Face the Nation on Sunday.

"With diplomacy, there's a one in a trillion chance you'll degrade the Iranian nuclear program. There's a 90% chance you'll degrade it through military action by Israel supported by the United States.

The veteran senator is one of the biggest advocates of a more muscular policy abroad and is a vocal supporter of Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he credited with delivering heavy blows to Iran-backed groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

Trump said in November that Iran "can't have nuclear weapons" but "I’d like them to be a very successful country."

Sworn in on Monday, Trump has repeatedly suggested he is disinclined to pursue regime change in Iran and has not publicly mentioned any military option on Iran.

Graham said he would engage Trump "to take this moment in time to decimate the Iranian nuclear program, to help Israel deliver the knock-out blow."

"(The Islamic Republic) is a religious nazi regime," Graham continued. "They want to destroy the Jewish State, they want to purify Islam and drive us out of the Mideast, it would be like negotiating with Hitler.