'They're going to fall': Trump ally hints at US takeover of Cuba days after killing of Iran's Supreme Leader
A top Republican and Donald Trump ally has appeared to suggest that the Cuban regime could be the next government ousted by the US, days after strikes on Iran killed its Supreme Leader.
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Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator for South Carolina, has hinted that the Communist rulers in the Caribbean nation could be Trump's next target.
His comments came during a television interview where he was asked about the US’s bombing campaign on Iran, which has prompted the Islamic Regime to unleash revenge attacks across the Middle East this week.
“The Iranian regime, the mother ship of international terrorism, is about to collapse.
"The captain of the ship, the ayatollah, is stone-cold dead," the Trump ally said.
The senator suggested "Cuba's next", telling Fox News: "They're going to fall. This communist dictatorship in Cuba, their days are numbered."
Read more: Trump suggests 'friendly takeover' of Cuba
It comes as Cuba faces added pressure following the US’s January ousting of Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, one of Havana’s closest allies.
President Donald Trump said last week the US could take over Cuba on friendly terms.
“The Cuban government is talking with us, and they’re in a big deal of trouble, as you know.
“They have no money. They have no anything right now, but they’re talking with us,” he told reporters.
He added: “And maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba. We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
Mr Trump said his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American, is in charge of the plan.
“Marco Rubio is dealing on it and at a very high level, and you know, they have no money. They have no oil, they have no food,” he said. “It’s really right now a nation in deep trouble. And they want our help,” Mr Trump added.
The US leader didn’t clarify what this meant but hinted that Communist-run Cuba was a pivotal moment.
America has a strict trade embargo on Cuba, which it has kept in place since 1962.
The previous year, the US’s CIA-sponsored invasion of the island at the Bay of Pigs failed.
Back in February, the Trump administration expanded the blockade with a fuel embargo, sparking an oil shortage and a humanitarian crisis, according to humanitarian organisations.
Up to 40 organisations wrote to Congress on Friday asking it to “press the Trump administration to reverse its aggressive policy towards Cuba”.
They said a drop in oil shipments to the Caribbean island would trigger humanitarian collapse, and slamming the "policies that deliberately impose hunger and mass hardship on millions of civilians constitute a form of collective punishment, and as such are a grave violation of international humanitarian law".
Mr Trump also signed an executive order in January vowing to impose tariffs on countries providing oil to Cuba amid its worsening energy crisis.
However, the US has since claimed Venezuelan oil could be sold to Cuba.