Gen Keane: THIS was predictable…

We welcome back to the show General Jack Keane, Fox News Senior Strategic Analyst.General, as always, it's fabulous to have you here.Let's just start.What do you make of the Navy move now?It's sort of like formally reopening the Gulf, letting ships through.We did a couple today.

Our reporting, Jennifer Griffin and others, they're going to be ramping up more and more ships.How do you see that?

Yeah, well, it's a major decision by the president.Obviously, the Iranians shut down the Straits of Hormuz.They wanted to stop the war.They got that, the president thought, based on some preliminary thoughts about negotiations.He entered into it.He's given them three weeks to come up with something that's acceptable.

There's nothing that they have come up with that's acceptable to our president.He's not going to take a bad deal.He's made another big decision.open the straights of a move.And that's what's happening.It's a very complex and comprehensive operation that our viewers are not going to really see much of or even reporting much of.

because it starts with one, they've already done it, they've cleared a channel close to Oman, which is the country across from Iran, some 21 miles across.There's no mines there, so there's a pathway through it.Secondly, a layered defense that goes scores of miles deep into Iran with aircraft and surveillance drones as well to take down any drone that's launched long distance or medium range or any, anti -ship missile or a ballistic missile trying to take down ships in the Straits of Amuz.Then there's a domed defense, Larry, right over the Straits themselves.And that domed defense is there to defeat any land -based attacks, say a shoulder -fired missile on a ship, any surface fast boats or under the water on crewed boats, or any penetration that gets through the layered defense.That would be the terminal defense right at the straights.

Based on that, for the last couple of weeks, they've been talking to ship owners, ship insurers, and the merchants of the ships that are out there.There's hundreds there, they talked to two to three dozen of them.They are prepared, once they're secured, to begin to move their ships through.Supposedly, tonight, they will move some ships through, and it's getting nighttime right now in that part of the world.As predicted by Admiral Cooper and others who's in command of our forces, it's likely the Iranians will retaliate to try to intervene in terms of what we're doing at the straits, but also frustrated with the defense that we have.they likely will retaliate on allies or partners and U .

S.bases.And as you recorded here, they have fired 12 ballistic missiles into the UAE and three cruise missiles, as just announced by the defense minister.In my judgment, that's a major violation of the ceasefire.And I think we're going back into a campaign, big and powerful, to bring down All the other targets that we have not brought military campaign military campaign camp bombing And also we have to recognize That dealing with hezbollah in lebanon by israel has been over 50 ceasefire violations by hezbollah And according to the terms of the agreement israel is in a defensive crouch only allowed to to conduct defense against what's targeting them and This should remove, based on what the Iranians have done, the ceasefire hold on them.So Netanyahu should be given the green light, once and for all, finish the campaign against Hezbollah.

Let's end it on Israeli terms.

Do you think the Iranians would be stupid enough to fire on our Navy, on our ships?Oh, absolutely.You're talking about this dome, for example, whatever, whether they're these little motorboats or whatever.missiles they have left.You think they'll actually do that?They'll try.

I mean, they did.That's what prompted in 1988.Now, they were a different military then.They don't have the capability they have now.They did fire on US ships, and that's prompted Ronald Reagan to take action against them, to bring down the small little Navy they had and attack some oil platforms.It was predictable that they would do something quickly here out of frustration.

So, listen, President Trump has called their bluff here.And he's put down a marker.And we're going to open up the straits.And that is the only card these guys are holding.And he's about to take it away from them.

And they put up, I haven't seen the whole thing, but apparently their list of conditions doesn't even mention nuclear capabilities, doesn't mention terrorism, doesn't mention all the key things that President Trump absolutely, I think unconditionally, will demand from them.So it's the old story you've described it many times.They're just playing for time.That's all they're trying to do.They're not serious about any peaceful arrangement.They never have been.

When they went through the ceasefire, When we went through the ceasefire, they got what they wanted.You and I have talked about it.Stop the war.They got that.We went into negotiating mode, and they were playing that card.And they were tantalizing, I think, many of our negotiators with the promise, these are moderate quote, people willing to make a deal and putting, likely, some serious concessions on the table just to incentivize the discussion.

But when it really gets down to making a decision, as we quickly found out, after the first negotiation and they had a check with the boss, the IRGC commander, he said thumbs down on all of that.And the negotiations were over.They're not going to make any deal that's acceptable to our president, and he's not about to make any deal.a bad deal.You can see what he's about to do.He's opening up the straits of the Meuse, and he'll eventually return to the bombing as well.

It just seemed like opening up the strait, putting the Navy in there, getting the ships, it's the first step.The next step is probably going to be military operation, some kind of specific targeting as you've described.I don't know, it may be Cargill, it may not be, but it'll be something.He's lost patience.But I just, the IRGC, They're crazy people.I mean, they have a death wish.

Now, speaking of their death wish, Is it possible at some point, you know, we're starving them, the blockade and the embargo, the no money coming in, they can't pay payrolls, they own businesses, they're not going to be able to pay a payroll, their retirement accounts, the Treasury is freezing or seizing their own assets offshore.At what point is it possible that the citizenry will, you know, just step up and do something?And just one more, sir, as a corollary, the so -called regular army, the ones that were dragged, not the IRGC, we've talked about, could anything happen there to overthrow completely this regime?

Yeah, as a regime, well, first of all, they believe they can outlast us.They don't care about the suffering of the people.The leaders, all they care about is surviving.They believe eventually they can recover.It may take years, but surviving is the objective.So yes, as the fissures and fractures start to take place, I strongly believe that what is needed now is the CIA and Mossad to come together with a combined plan presented at some level of detail to the President of the United States to do two big things.

One, undermine the regime.And two, assist the Iranians.There is no internal pressure on them, and let's apply it.There's huge external pressure.Obviously, we havethe Israelis are applying it.

Let's get some real internal pressure going.Let's get some chain reaction going on among the people, particularly as the regime becomes weaker and weaker and weaker.We don't have an objective for a regime change.publicly, but privately, we should be working our tails off to achieve that end, covertly and clandestinely.I mean, think about it.People in the IRGC, they're wondering, are we going to survive or not?

Somebody approaches them and say, listen, are you willing to work with me?I got $50 ,000 in my pocket.let's, here's what I need you to do.Does the Mossad do that?You betcha, they do that.They have done that.

We need to do more of it.We need to talk to the Iranians.There are people under arms right now in Iran.Kurds, Zaris, and Baluchis.We gotta green light them.And maybe we get a chain reaction going in the country with people who are not under arms, but also willing to come into the streets.

We can keep the adversary off their back because we own the sky.I'm talking we're going back to full combat operations.So it's different than in the past.It's different than in the past.They're not out there alone.

What about the so -called regular army?We've talked about this in passing from time to time.Is there anything to that?

The regular army is made up of draftees and the people who lead the regular army are more nationalists than they are these diabolical tyrants that submit to the Ayatollah ideology.So there has always been an opportunity there.And yes.I am confident that Assad has contacts in that organization.And they have never, Larry, during all the oppression that we've seen them do of their people, they have never asked the army to go on the streets.Why?

Because they know the draftees and the leaders would not fire on their own people.And they didn't want to see that public rejection of their orders.

Back to the probable next step of resumption of bombing.And I agree with your point of view.I hardly have for quite some time.People say it would be two weeks.CENTCOM knows what it needs to do.hadn't been able to do it yet, but they're ready to do it.

Does that all sound reasonable to you, the two -week time period?

Yeah, two weeks.

I mean, I'd hate to put a time frame on it.

Two weeks is full -throttle everything.I think there's likely options that are being given to the president in terms of scale and magnitude of it.And the timelines are less important than what we're going to do.But listen, so our audience understands, since when we started the operation, We have been still moving resources into the region just not the additional carrier strike group.We've been moving fighters and other capability into the region.We have doubled.

the amount of capability that we have in a region now compared to then.And the Israelis have always had more capability there than we have.When we went through a ceasefire, they had conducted 19 ,000 attacks on the Iranians.We conducted 13 ,000.We're about where they are.So what we have in front of us in terms of sheer power is very, very significant.

And all of Iran's major targets to include energy infrastructure, Kargalan, ballistic missile storage sites, and you name it, are very vulnerable to what we're about to do.And that's your expectation.Yes, it is.

Yeah.

So we may start out a little slower because this operation in front of us is absorbing a huge amount of resources to make it successful.But I think we're going to get there for sure.

Yes, sir.General Jack Keane, it's wonderful having you on set, sir.Thank you for helping us throughout this whole period.You've been great.Appreciate it.You're welcome, Larry.

All right, folks.