Former general on ceasefire deal: ‘Iran very much in control’

Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane on Wednesday downplayed the two-week ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran, accusing the latter of being “very much in control.”

Keane appeared on Fox News to urge looking “at this from Iran’s perspective.” He said Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz “to stop the war.”

“They have achieved that objective. We have indeed stopped the war. So not only that, the Iranians are still in control, Bill,” he continued, speaking with hosts Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino on “America’s Newsroom.” “The IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] navy has told all ships in the Gulf to pass through the straits, ‘You need our permission.'”

“So, they are very much in control of the Strait of Hormuz and all those ships are going to abide by those warnings,” he added.

Keane said Iran has set “the stage for extending the negotiations” as long as oil prices, economic and political pressures all go down.

“And they are counting on that pressure of the president, at that point, not to have the will to reattack several weeks from now,” he added.

Iran reopened the strait as one of its conditions for a ceasefire deal with the U.S. The Islamic regime closed the strait following the start of the conflict on Feb. 28. Its closure resulted in gas prices skyrocketing.

The strait’s reopening caused oil prices to plummet Wednesday morning. The price of international benchmark Brent crude went down 14 percent to just more than $95 per barrel. The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate dipped down about 17 percent with trading at just under $96. The national average for gas in the U.S., however, remained high at $4.20, according to AAA.

President Trump and his administration lauded the military operation and the ceasefire as victories. Trump said the U.S. “will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz. There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made.” He added that Iran can start rebuilding, which the nation said it would do using fees paid through its toll in the strait.

“We’ll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just ‘hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well,” Trump added.

The president also suggested that the U.S. and Iran will form a “joint venture” to oversee Iran’s proposed toll system in the strait. Though tolling oil tankers passing through the state was part of Iran’s conditions to pause hostilities, collaboration with the U.S. to enact this condition was not part of the peace proposal.

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chair of the Russia’s Security Council, also warned about Iran’s management of the strait.

“But one thing is certain – Iran has tested its nuclear weapons,” he said in a short statement about the ceasefire deal on the social platform X. “It is called the Strait of Hormuz. Its potential is inexhaustible.”