Retired U.S. Army Gen. Jack Keane delivered a blunt warning to Iran’s ruling regime as anti-government protests entered their second week, making it clear that this is not a moment for Tehran to shrug things off—especially when President Donald Trump is involved.
“If I was in the Iranian regime, I would take President Trump dead serious here,” Keane said Friday during an appearance on Fox News’ Special Report. Coming from a man who’s spent a lifetime studying adversaries of the United States, that’s not exactly casual advice.
Keane’s comments followed a Truth Social post from President Trump earlier Friday, in which he warned that the United States is “locked and loaded and ready to go” if the Iranian regime shoots and kills protesters. The message comes amid ongoing demonstrations against the regime, with at least 44 protesters reportedly killed by Iranian security forces, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
According to Keane, the timing of Trump’s warning couldn’t be more significant. He assessed that the Iranian regime is now at its “weakest point” in 45 years, with “no prospect of recovering.” Not exactly a position of strength—and certainly not the moment to test an American president known for backing up his words.
Keane outlined why these protests stand apart from previous unrest in Iran. Politically, he said, the regime has failed to meet the social, political, and economic aspirations of its people. Economically, he described Iran as being “in the tank,” again with no realistic path to recovery. And militarily, he noted, Iran has suffered major setbacks, losing its position in Syria and seeing its proxy forces largely dismantled.
“The result of all of that is they are in a fundamentally weak position, and it’s serious in terms of the regime,” Keane said.
He explained that such weakness inevitably fuels public unrest, as fear, mistrust, and concerns about survival begin to fracture any remaining sense of unity. When people feel cornered, they stop pretending everything is fine—something authoritarian systems tend to forget.
Asked by Fox News anchor Bret Baier about the likelihood of a U.S. or Israeli strike in support of protesters, Keane stopped short of predicting specific action. But he made one thing clear: Trump’s words are not for show.
“I think I would take the president serious,” Keane said. “I have no insight into what they’re thinking, but I’m listening to what they are saying. And he’s dead serious.”
Keane reinforced that point by referencing the U.S. military’s destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites in 2025, a reminder that recent history should have taught Tehran a lesson—or at least it should have.
“Anybody at this point that doesn’t take President Trump serious when he’s saying something like this, given the last year, is certainly reckless and irresponsible,” Keane said.
The message from Washington is unmistakable: the era of empty warnings is over. With the Iranian regime on shaky ground and the president making his position crystal clear, this moment represents both a warning and an opportunity—one that could finally bring accountability and hope to people who have waited far too long for both.
