Lindsey Graham, the veteran Republican senator who has been pushing for war against Iran for decades, has issued a dire warning to the Iranian government, saying it was worth spending money to “take this regime down”.

“When this regime goes down, we are going to have a new Middle East, and we are going [to] make a tonne of money,” Graham, a longtime proponent of US military intervention abroad, told Fox News on Sunday.

Graham, who has been one of the Trump administration’s most vocal supporters of Israel and the war against Iran, appeared to suggest that the US abduction of Venezuela’s left-wing leader Nicolas Maduro and the attack on Iran were launched to gain control over each country’s oil supplies.

“Venezuela and Iran have 31 percent of the world’s oil reserves. We’re going to have a partnership with 31 percent of the known reserves. This is China’s nightmare. This is a good investment,” said Graham.