Cotton’s comments come as many Republican lawmakers have called on the White House to focus its Middle East efforts toward Iran, as Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) suggested that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is not possible as long as Iran is “flush with cash.”

The Arkansas senator contended that the Democratic Party has helped Iran since the Barack Obama’s presidency, which has continued with President Joe Biden’s handling of the Middle East.

“So time and time again, the Democratic Party has aided the rise of Iran in the Middle East through appeasement, through conciliation, through sanctions relief, through outright bribery for hostages,” Cotton said on Fox News’s Life, Liberty, and Levin. “That’s why they continue to do so today. and they’ll continue to do so if Kamala Harris wins. As you said, the ayatollahs are trying to assassinate Donald Trump because they know he will finish the job. Kamala Harris is the hand-picked candidate of Iran.”

Cotton said Harris opposed the Trump administration’s decision to kill “Iran’s terrorist mastermind” when she was a senator. He was likely referring to her opposition to a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in early 2020, which Harris claimed “could lead to a new war in the Middle East.”

Soleimani was an enemy of the U.S., but President Trump’s actions put more American lives at risk and could lead to a new war in the Middle East — with no plan for what happens next. The Administration must fully brief and make its case to Congress ASAP.

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) January 3, 2020

The Arkansas senator also addressed Obama joining Harris on the 2024 campaign trail, stating that the former president and his “political machine” have platformed her since she ran for California’s attorney general in 2010. He added that should she win the election, Israel would have to work even harder to defend itself than it already does.

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Trump has been very critical of the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, claiming the war “would not have happened” under his leadership. He also suggested that Iran “desperately” wants Harris to win the election because the country “can take advantage of America.”

Last month, Donald Trump Jr. contended that Iran’s interference in the 2024 presidential election, including a hack on the Trump campaign, could unintentionally help his father’s campaign. Like his father, Trump Jr. argued that Iran does not want the former president to return to the White House because that would be “really bad for their global ambitions.”