Defense Graham predicts Gulf states will join US-Israel assault on Iran by Filip Timotija - 03/03/26 6:37 PM ET by Filip Timotija - 03/03/26 6:37 PM ET Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email NOW PLAYING Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) predicted on Tuesday that Gulf states will join the United States and Israel in its assault against Iran in the coming days.  “I’ve been on the phone all day with our Arab allies, and quite the opposite is unfolding. So I’m here to tell you the good news for me is I think the regional partners, the Arab partners, are going to be more involved, not less,” Graham said after leaving the all-senators classified briefing on Iran.  “They’re not going to break; they’re going to get into the fight in a more direct way. And Iran made a major miscalculation by attacking Kuwait and Qatar and Saudi Arabia,” he told reporters. “The countries now are more intent than ever to end the threat forever.” The briefing, which lasted about 80 minutes, was provided by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Rattclife, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Dan Caine.  The U.S. Gulf allies have been concerned with the possibility of an all-out-war with Iran and they have worked to forge close ties to Washington, spending billions on U.S. arms sales and building U.S. military bases. After the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran over the weekend, Tehran retaliated, firing thousands of drones and missiles toward Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.  “So what I see in the coming days is more capability directed at the regime that’s not American, more planes flying that are not American, more missile capability brought to the fight by our allies,” Graham said on Tuesday. “So the ability to inflict harm on the regime is going to increase, not just because we’re more committed to ending this, because we’re going to have more partners to do that now,” he added after the briefing.  Graham, a defense hawk, also predicted that the amount of U.S. firepower in the next day or two will be “overwhelming.” “And when you add to the mix the air capability, and it’s going to be overwhelming, the demise of this regime is at hand,” he said.  Add as preferred source on Google Tags Lindsey Graham Marco Rubio Pete Hegseth Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email More Defense News See All Administration Rubio fends off barrage of questions about why US started Iran attacks by Laura Kelly 32 minutes ago Administration  /  32 minutes ago