Retired general argues military action against Iran is 'best option' as Trump faces 'historic opportunity'

09 Feb 2026 By foxnews

Retired four-star Gen. Jack Keane said the U.S. should use military action against Iran while the regime is at its "weakest," arguing that Tehran continues to lie about its nuclear ambitions even as President Donald Trump keeps the door open to a new deal.

"I think we're coming down to the reality that the military option is, indeed, the best option here," Keane said on "Fox & Friends Weekend."

Trump faces "this historic opportunity that no other president has had" to set the conditions for regime collapse, which could herald enduring peace in the Middle East and be legacy-defining for the president, he said.

The Fox News senior strategic analyst acknowledged that Trump has established a pattern of using diplomatic pressure to achieve his aims, but still pushed for military action against Iran, claiming that "if they [Iran] make any kind of a deal, the first thing they're going to want is sanction relief."

He said even a deal favorable to the U.S. wouldn't be in the best interest of America, the region or the Iranian people because it would extend the life of the ayatollah's regime, which is now the "weakest" it has been politically, economically and militarily.

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Not only is Iran destabilizing the Middle East, using its proxies to attack Israel and repressing their own people, Keane said, but the regime remains "persistent in the big lie... that they're really pursuing civil nuclear power."

"They have one nuclear plant in Iran. It represents… less than 1% of the energy to provide and sustain their electric grid," he said. "It's all a bunch of nonsense. They've been lying for years about this, and they continue to do it."

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Keane's comments come after U.S. special envoy for peace missions Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), visited the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on a scheduled deployment Saturday.

Their visit follows Friday's nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran in Oman, which included Witkoff and Kushner. Trump described the meeting as "very good."

"Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly," he told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One en route to Mar-a-Lago. "We have to see what that deal is."

He made it clear he will only make a deal with Iran if they agree to no nuclear weapons.

Fox News Digital's Brie Stimson contributed to this report.