On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Fox News Senior Strategic Analyst Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.) responded to assertions from the White House that Iran wants a deal by saying that Iranian negotiators have been creating the illusion that they’re moderate compared to the hardliners “And every negotiating team believes, wow, we’re dealing with people that are much more reasonable than we’ve dealt with in the past.” “And the president knows it, oh, these guys are crazy, they lie, they cheat.”
Host Bret Baier asked, “I hear that from the White House press secretary, I hear it from the president, that Iran wants to make a deal. Is diplomacy, in this environment, where you have two sides, one that’s talking to us, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and one that’s firing and pushing the buttons on the ground, is it possible, even in that dichotomy?”
Keane answered, “Well, this is a mirage that they are so successful at creating. And they’ve done it, it began with Jimmy Carter, all through Reagan, all the way up to the current administration. And their narrative is simply this, they create a narrative that we are the diplomats and we’re more moderate than the hardliners who are running the regime and you’ve got to help us motivate and change the hardliners somewhat. And we do — this is the key point — we want to co-exist with you, so let us work this together. And every negotiating team believes, wow, we’re dealing with people that are much more reasonable than we’ve dealt with in the past. We’re going back to Jimmy Carter, who extended a hand to the regime that just took over…and then they stormed our embassy. We’re going back to Ronald Reagan, when they released the hostages on the day of his inauguration. He and his team thought, wow, we’re going to be able to work with the Iranians, they blew up two embassies and blew up our barracks. The list goes on and on and on. These moderates who they believe are reasonable, report to the guys that are running the regime, they are as committed to the goals of the regime as the so-called hardliners. There’s just one, and we’ve got to understand this, and every new administration has to find out this awful truth. And the president knows it, oh, these guys are crazy, they lie, they cheat. And that is the truth of it. Even though they’re sophisticated diplomats, they appear urbane, and they appear to be very reasonable and just help us work with the hardliners.”
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