McCain says partnering with Iran 'would be the height of folly.' McCain, Graham split on Iran

Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain are enduring a rare split on foreign policy, breaking over whether the U.S. should cooperate with Iran to aid the Iraqis.

Graham (R-S.C.) twice suggested on the Sunday shows that the United States must work with Iran to quell rising sectarian violence in Iraq — partially to ensure that the Iranians do not become “the biggest winner” in the Middle Eastern chaos.


But McCain (R-Ariz.) rejected this tactic on Monday morning, issuing a statement that didn’t name Graham but clearly drew a line of disagreement between the two foreign policy hawks. McCain said partnering with Iran “would be the height of folly,” while describing a long record of supporting terrorist acts in the Middle East.

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“The reality is, U.S. and Iranian interests and goals do not align in Iraq, and greater Iranian intervention would only make the situation dramatically worse,” McCain said. “The United States should be seeking to minimize greater Iranian involvement in Iraq right now, not encouraging it.”

McCain’s lambasting of Graham comes just three days after they released a joint statement blasting President Barack Obama’s deliberative approach in Iraq. The disagreement is unlikely to dent the close friendship between the “two amigos” who frequently speak by telephone — even when they are both in the Capitol — but the sudden break underscores the complicated relationship between the U.S. and Iran.

Graham suggestion that the U.S. will “have to have some dialogue with the Iranians that says, ‘let’s coordinate our efforts,’ but has some red lines,” comes as the two countries are already locked in fragile negotiations over winding down Iran’s nuclear program set to conclude this summer. Graham, McCain and much of the congressional GOP has advocated passing legislation that contains tougher sanctions that would hit Iran if these talks disintegrate.

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But the South Carolina Republican said in order to blunt Iran’s rise in the region, the U.S. must take the uncomfortable step of working with Tehran.

“The Iranians can provide some assets to make sure Baghdad doesn’t fall. We need to coordinate with the Iranians,” Graham said on CNN. “To ignore Iran and not tell them,’ Don’t take advantage of this situation,’ would be a mistake.”

CNN’s Dana Bash seemed to be in disbelief: “It’s sort of hard for me to believe that I’m hearing a Republican saying, sit down and talk with … Iran.”

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McCain had a similar reaction, arguing that engaging with Iran “would inflame sectarian tensions, strengthen the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria … drive more Sunnis into ISIS’s ranks, empower the most radical Shia militants, deepen the Iraqi government’s dependence on Iran, alienate U.S. allies and partners in the region, and set back the prospects of national reconciliation.”

But other than their differing views on Iran, the amigos are largely in agreement on what Obama should do on Iraq. They both think Obama needs to bomb the insurgent ISIS militants — and are united in thinking Obama’s policy in Iraq has been dismal.