Trump could still unleash ‘major combat operation’ against Iran following troop surge, Keane says

​

Ret. Gen. Jack Keane told “Fox & Friends” on Friday that President Donald Trump still has the option of returning to a “major combat operation” against Iran as the U.S. is sending the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Middle East. 

U.S. officials said to Fox News on Thursday that the ships are set to arrive in the region by the end of November and that these new deployments will add about 10,000 sailors and Marines to the Middle East. 

When asked Friday for his reaction to the new deployment, Keane said, “We’ve always anticipated — the Israelis and the United States — that Iran would likely escalate, prior to the elections in Israel in October, the elections in the United States in November. 

“So that is likely part of what has taken place here,” he told “Fox & Friends.” “But it’s also — the president has on the table, and he’s never taken it off — returning to major combat operation. For our audience, as a reminder, that’s combined operations U.S. and Israel. Likely a much shorter period of time, likely a much more massive attack than anything we’ve ever seen before.” 

Our intelligence is pristine. I mean, we’ve been tracking everything the Iranians are doing. Think about it, since the ceasefire on April the 7th. So we know where everything is, and we know what we need to do to deal with it. And obviously, we have priorities that certain things are very important. And it would provide complete devastation to this regime and its ability to go forward,” added Keane, a retired four-star general. 

“No doubt we can put it on a path for its collapse. And I’m making the assumption that the CIA and the Mossad are working full time here to undermine the regime, fracture it, and also work with groups that want to provide some significant resistance to the regime. Let’s just make an assumption that that’s also taken place,” he added. 

Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey and Liz Friden contributed to this post.