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Retired Gen. Jack Keane put the country on notice this week, bluntly warning that Tehran will try to “cheat” and stall as nuclear negotiations drag on — exactly the playbook of a regime that respects only strength. Keane’s stern commentary, delivered on a national platform, should remind Americans that wishful thinking won’t change the behavior of a theocracy that has lied for decades.
The Strait of Hormuz has again become the flashpoint it always was, with skirmishes and a de facto chokehold that threaten global energy security and American interests abroad. Reports of recent incidents and U.S. naval moves underscore that this is not abstract diplomacy but real-world pressure that costs American families at the pump and our allies in Europe and Asia.
President Trump correctly insists the United States holds leverage and has pushed Tehran hard, saying a deal to reopen the strait is “largely negotiated” while refusing terms that leave critical U.S. demands unmet. His readiness to threaten targeted strikes and to guide commercial traffic through Hormuz shows he understands leverage must be backed by the credible threat of force — something far too many in Washington used to dismiss.
Behind the scenes, negotiators reportedly reached a framework to extend a ceasefire and possibly begin talks on nuclear limits, but any memorandum appears to hinge on the president’s final approval and verifiable steps by Tehran. Conservatives should be skeptical of vague promises and demand concrete actions: no enrichment, no hidden stockpiles, and verifiable destruction of weapons-related infrastructure before any relief is considered.
Keane and other national security voices are right to push for hard options, including striking at Iran’s revenue sources if diplomacy fails; after all, crippling the regime’s ability to bankroll terror and nuclear ambitions is common-sense national security. We should applaud leaders who pair negotiation with muscle, not the long carousel of appeasement that has emboldened Iran in the past.
Americans deserve a foreign policy that defends our sovereignty, protects our economy, and punishes bad actors — not one that trades away leverage for the illusion of peace. It’s time for patriots to back a commander-in-chief who uses every tool in the toolbox, holds the line against cheaters in Tehran, and puts American security before globalist handshakes.
