Iran is likely using negotiations to stall for time while maintaining its grip on power, as President Donald Trump weighs next steps in confronting the regime, according to two retired military leaders, retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Robert Harward and retired Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, on Newsmax Sunday.
"The president thinks he has time on his hands, and that's true for the blockade," Harward told Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend."
He added that the United States "can starve out and drive them to some negotiations," but warned Tehran is pursuing a longer-term strategy.
"All they're trying to do is take as much time as possible to survive through Trump," Harward said. "They'll take months or as long as they can to negotiate just passage through the Strait of Hormuz and then maybe onto the nuclear weapon."
The midterm elections may be to Iran's advantage, he added, "but at the end of the day, this is about the regime. If you do not change the regime, all these problems will percolate for years to come."
Kimmitt, meanwhile, said that conflict with Iran was unavoidable given its long-standing nuclear ambitions.
"It was inevitable that at some time this century we would be at war with Iran," Kimmitt said. "They've given no indication that they wanted to give up their nuclear ambitions, nor their ballistic missile ambitions, nor their ambitions."
Kimmitt contrasted Trump's approach with prior administrations.
"Every president since the discovery of the illegal Iranian nuclear program has said they cannot have it," he said. "Every president, until President Trump, has simply made that a rhetorical challenge, and in this case, President Trump has made it an actual challenge."
Harward also pointed to internal instability within Iran's leadership, saying sustained pressure alone will not be enough without broader change inside the country.
"The regime and all the ideologues, be it all the members of the IRGC, is no different than any other terrorist organization," Harward said. "You take out the top, even one or two levels down, but until you can hold the whole organization at risk, so be it."
He emphasized the role of the Iranian people, but said they will need help to effect regime change.
"We've got to find a way to enable, empower, and provide support so the Iranian people can turn this around," Harward said.
On the military front, Kimmitt said a large-scale U.S. ground invasion is unlikely even if a ceasefire collapses.
"At this point I don't see a chance of significant boots on the ground," Kimmitt said. "We simply don't have enough in the region right now to have a conventional attack on their military forces."
Instead, he said the focus would likely remain on targeted strikes, while stressing that any lasting change must come from within Iran.
"As long as the security forces have their grip around the throats of the Iranian people, we will not see an end to this," Kimmitt said. "It's not going to happen from the outside. It's got to happen from the inside."
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