Iranians have had PLENTY OF TIME to make up their minds Gen Keane Highlights

Keane Says Iran Has Had “Plenty of Time” as Trump Weighs Next Move

President Trump is again facing a defining choice on Iran: accept another round of negotiations or return to military action against a regime his advisers and allies say has spent weeks stalling for time.

After nearly six weeks of a cease-fire, retired four-star Gen. Jack Keane said the Iranians have had “plenty of time” to decide whether they are serious about a deal — and, in his view, they are not. Speaking in a series of interviews, Keane argued that Tehran is using familiar delay tactics to pressure Washington politically and economically, hoping the president will eventually declare victory and walk away rather than resume the military campaign.

The remarks came as Trump prepared to convene a high-level national security meeting in the Situation Room, amid reports that military action had been planned but temporarily postponed at the request of Middle Eastern leaders. The president said Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and others had urged him to delay strikes for a few days because they believed negotiations with Iran were moving closer to a possible agreement.

Trump described the diplomatic opening as “very positive,” but he also made clear that any deal must deny Tehran access to a nuclear weapon. If no agreement is reached, he said, a full-scale assault could resume.

Keane said the pause reflects Trump’s patience, not weakness. But he warned that patience has limits.

“We’re six weeks into the cease-fire,” Keane said, noting that the pause was initially expected to last far less time. The purpose, he said, was to give Iran a chance to reach a serious settlement. Instead, he argued, Tehran has offered proposals that may appear attractive on the surface but do not meet the president’s core demands.

In Keane’s assessment, Iran’s strategy is straightforward: drag out negotiations, exploit concerns about oil prices and regional instability, and bet that domestic political pressure will make Trump reluctant to restart combat operations.

“They believe time is on their side,” Keane said.

That view is shared by some Republican hawks. Sen. Lindsey Graham urged Trump to “finish the job,” saying Iran had been dramatically weakened but still had military targets that could be struck. Graham argued that more pressure, not more negotiation, might force Tehran to accept a real deal.

Keane stopped short of saying Trump should strike immediately, but he suggested the moment for action may be approaching. Asked whether military action was imminent, he said he did not know the timing, but believed it was “nearer rather than later.”

The central issue remains Iran’s nuclear program. Trump has repeatedly said Tehran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. Keane argued that the previous military campaign had already damaged Iran’s capabilities, but not fully completed the mission. According to him, roughly 30 percent of targets remained when the cease-fire began.

Those remaining targets, he said, include weapons systems, organizations that sustain the regime, elements of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and economic infrastructure that helps finance Tehran’s power at home and abroad.

Keane said the United States has used the six-week pause to improve intelligence on potential targets. That, he argued, means a renewed campaign could be more precise and more damaging than the earlier phase.

“We’ve had six weeks of gathering intelligence here on people, targets and things,” he said. “What we are about to do is devastatingly more significant than what we did in the previous weeks.”

The general framed the conflict not as a narrow nuclear dispute, but as part of a broader effort to weaken the Iranian regime so severely that it can no longer act as a regional predator. In his view, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, ballistic missile program and support for proxy groups are all connected to the survival of the regime itself.

That is why, Keane said, Iran’s leaders are willing to absorb severe punishment. He argued that American observers often misunderstand Tehran because they analyze its behavior through the lens of democratic values and concern for public welfare.

“They don’t care about their people,” he said. “They are completely focused on regime survival.”

Keane said Iran would welcome a negotiated settlement only if it preserved the regime and helped finance its recovery. Any agreement that releases frozen assets or eases sanctions, he warned, could strengthen the same leadership Washington set out to weaken.

That is the dilemma now facing the administration. A deal could reduce the immediate risk of war and prevent a broader regional conflict. But if the terms are weak, critics say it could give Iran money, time and legitimacy while leaving the regime intact.

Keane argued that such an outcome would be a “gut punch” to the Iranian people and a retreat from the original purpose of the campaign. He said the United States was not seeking to physically impose regime change, but it did aim to put Tehran on a pathway to collapse by damaging its military and economic foundations.

The Strait of Hormuz remains another major concern. Iran has threatened shipping and regional energy infrastructure in the past, and U.S. officials have warned against any attempt to impose tolls or restrict passage through the critical waterway. Keane said Iran’s potential retaliation against oil and gas infrastructure in Gulf countries should not prevent the United States from acting.

American allies in the region, he said, have significant defensive capabilities, and the United States can help protect them. If Iran attacks Gulf energy infrastructure, Keane argued, Washington could respond by systematically destroying Iran’s own oil and energy assets.

“We have significant leverage here,” he said.

That leverage extends beyond Iran. China has also entered the discussion. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Trump had obtained a commitment from Beijing that it would not provide material support to Iran. Greer said China also had a clear interest in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and did not want any country imposing a toll there.

Keane was skeptical. He said China does not want Iran’s regime to fall because Tehran represents Beijing’s major foothold in the Middle East. In his view, China wants a negotiated settlement that preserves the regime and unlocks enough sanctions relief to finance Iran’s recovery.

He also accused China of previously providing intelligence, solid fuel and components that strengthened Iran’s missile program. Whether Beijing honors its latest commitment, he said, remains to be seen.

“A healthy dose of skepticism here is probably appropriate,” Keane said.

That skepticism reflects a larger strategic concern. Trump is trying to manage multiple pressure points at once: Iran in the Middle East, China in the Indo-Pacific, Cuba in the Western Hemisphere and energy security across global markets. Each confrontation affects the others.

Keane said Trump’s moves against Iran, Cuba and Venezuela may strengthen his hand with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but he warned that Beijing’s main goal remains weakening U.S. support for Taiwan. He said China’s past promises have not always been kept and that Washington should judge Beijing by its actions, not its words.

The conversation also turned to Cuba, after reports that Havana had acquired hundreds of drones and discussed possible plans involving the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay. Keane dismissed the idea that Cuba poses a serious military threat to the United States, saying any offensive action by Havana would bring devastating consequences for the Cuban regime.

He described Cuba as a country on the verge of economic collapse, weakened by the loss of support from Venezuela and increasing pressure on its revenue sources. A political transition in Havana, Keane said, would be a historic relief for Cuban Americans and a major shift in the Western Hemisphere.

But Iran remains the immediate crisis.

The question now is whether Trump’s delayed strike is a final diplomatic pause or the last warning before the campaign resumes. Keane suggested the Iranians have already answered that question through their behavior. They have not opened the Strait of Hormuz as expected. They have not accepted a deal that meets Trump’s demands. And they continue, he said, to believe that delay works in their favor.

Trump, Keane argued, is not naive about Tehran. He has long criticized Iran’s negotiating tactics and has said he will not accept a weak deal. Keane described the president as the “backstop” against any agreement that fails to achieve U.S. objectives.

“He’s not going to take a bad deal,” Keane said.

For Americans, the stakes are high. A renewed military campaign could raise fears of a wider Middle East war, attacks on U.S. personnel, threats to embassies, terrorism or disruptions to oil markets. But allowing Iran to preserve its nuclear path, missile arsenal and proxy networks could create a longer-term threat that grows more dangerous over time.

Keane said Iranian threats to strike U.S. interests beyond the region should be taken seriously but not exaggerated. He described Tehran’s rhetoric as full of “bluster,” saying the regime has a history of overstating its capabilities in hopes of intimidating adversaries.

Still, he said the United States is on alert. Intelligence agencies, the FBI, military commands and allied governments are watching for threats to American bases, embassies and citizens.

The administration’s challenge is to turn military strength into a durable political outcome. That has often been the hardest part of American strategy in the Middle East. Strikes can degrade weapons, destroy infrastructure and pressure adversaries. But unless the political objective is clear and achievable, tactical success can give way to another cycle of confrontation.

Keane believes the objective is clear: finish the military campaign, strip away Iran’s ability to threaten the region, deny it a nuclear weapon, weaken the regime’s internal pillars and prevent Tehran from using diplomacy to recover.

Whether Trump agrees fully with that prescription may become clear soon. The president has shown a willingness to pause when allies ask for more time. But he has also warned that the pause may be brief.

Iran, in Keane’s view, has already had enough time.

The next decision belongs to Trump.