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Ret. Gen. Jack Keane on Sunday said the US-Iran memorandum of understanding signals a “major shift” in the Trump administration’s approach to foreign policy ideals in the Middle East.
“It’s a recognition that there’s a major shift of the Administration‘s priorities away from military objectives to economic and political objectives,” Keane told hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby on the “Cats and Cosby Show” on WABC 770 AM.
“The president’s advisers have landed the idea, with the president, that the oil and gas prices that rose as a result of closing the Strait of Hormuz, coupled with Iran’s ability to retaliate if military operations were resumed against the Gulf states’ oil and gas infrastructure, and be effective against that infrastructure, those two things together would produce a worldwide depression. And as a result of that, we have entered into these negotiations,” he added.
In separate interviews, Keane has shared grim prospects for the future of a sustained, long lasting peace deal with Iran and previously said resumed US combat operations against Tehran are “inevitable.”
His perspective echoes lawmakers who have shot down the MOU as a deal that rewards Iran with more privileges than restrictions.
However, Keane argues that President Trump will continue to negotiate a deal that favors the U.S. or resume military operations to cripple Iran’s armed forces before accepting a permanent agreement.
“If the president doesn’t get a deal to meet all of his objectives, I don’t believe there will be a final deal, despite some of the problems with this memorandum of understanding. And the president’s got two more years plus to be president of the United States. He is not, and I say he is not going to pass this Iranian problem to his successor as Biden passed it to him and presented him with something of a mess here. He’s not going to do that,” Keane said.
“He will resolve this one way or the other. If he can’t resolve it with negotiations in time, he will go back and physically destroy Iran in terms of its military capability and its industrial and economic might. That I’m absolutely convinced of,” he added.
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