US Senator Lindsey Graham warned on Tuesday that Kurdish forces in Syria are facing escalating security threats, saying he is working with the US administration and regional partners to prevent what he described as a potential “bloodbath” against Washington’s Kurdish allies.

In a series of posts on the social media platform X, the senior Republican lawmaker said the deteriorating situation in Syria requires regional actors to assume greater responsibility, urging them to act “for decency” to prevent further chaos and violence.

Graham singled out Saudi Arabia, saying he has sought to help chart a new path for relations between Riyadh, Washington, and the wider region, and voiced respect for reforms undertaken by the kingdom in recent years. However, he criticized what he described as Saudi Arabia’s hostile posture toward the United Arab Emirates and its silence over continued attacks by the Syrian government on Kurdish-held areas.

“Please understand that I am smart enough to know that Saudi Arabia has influence on the Syrian government, and I expect them to use it to keep the region from falling further into chaos,” Graham wrote, calling on Riyadh to play a more active role in restraining Damascus.

Earlier on Tuesday, Graham expressed alarm at what he described as a rapidly worsening security environment for Kurdish forces, warning that Syria’s emerging political order is closely aligned with Turkey and increasingly hostile to Kurdish autonomy. He said abandoning the Kurds would be “a disaster for America’s reputation and national security interests,” stressing that Kurdish forces were Washington’s principal partner in the fight against ISIS.

“The Kurds were the chief ally in destroying the ISIS caliphate,” Graham said, adding that he plans to introduce legislation this week aimed at imposing “crippling sanctions” on any government or armed group that launches hostilities against them.

The proposed legislation, titled the Save the Kurds Act, is expected to seek broad bipartisan support in Congress. Graham said the bill “must have teeth” to ensure it effectively deters attacks on Kurdish forces and civilians.

Kurdish-led forces, particularly the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), played a central role in the US-led campaign that dismantled ISIS’s self-declared caliphate in 2019. Since then, the SDF has continued to guard prisons and camps holding thousands of ISIS fighters and family members, including the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria.

At the same time, Kurdish forces have long faced pressure from Turkey, which considers key components of the SDF to be linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated by Ankara as a terrorist organization. Recent political and military shifts in Syria, along with evolving regional alignments, have heightened concerns among Kurdish leaders and Western officials about the future of Kurdish-controlled areas and the durability of US support.