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Retired Gen. Jack Keane called on the Trump administration to confront Iran’s leadership head-on, urging a final warning before taking action against officials he says are responsible for violently cracking down on protesters.
"The president has told them, ‘If you kill them, I’m coming for you,’" Keane said during an appearance on "Life, Liberty & Levin" on Saturday.
"They’ve already killed more than 40 people, and they’ve jailed many more. And in jail, they will execute them."
As nationwide anti-regime demonstrations across Iran hit the two-week mark, Keane argued that President Donald Trump should now follow through by issuing one last warning before targeting those responsible for maintaining an iron grip on the population.
IRAN FLIPS ‘KILL SWITCH’ TO HIDE ALLEGED CRIMES AS DEATH TOLL RISES AMID PROTESTS
In this frame grab from video obtained by The Associated Press outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a photo of Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran on Jan. 9. (UGC via AP)
"I think the president could give one more warning and then take down some of the leaders responsible for conducting violence against the Iranian population," Keane said.
"I believe that we have the leverage here to actually curtail this behavior."
This comes as multiple Israeli sources told Reuters that the Trump administration is weighing possible U.S. military intervention.
IRAN PROTESTS PROMPT NEW TRUMP WARNING OVER DEADLY GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWNS
Protesters gather as vehicles burn amid evolving anti-government unrest in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released Jan. 9. (Social Media/via Reuters)
Fox News Digital previously reached out to the State Department and White House for comment.
Trump voiced support for the protesters in a Truth Social post on Saturday, writing, "Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!"
The president also said at a Friday news conference that the U.S. would respond forcefully if the regime resorts to mass violence.
IRAN REGIME SAID TO UNLEASH HEZBOLLAH AND IRAQI MILITIAS AS UPRISING SPREADS
Activists take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Square, across from the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 3. (Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
"We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts," he said.
Keane noted Trump's outspokenness on behalf of the Iranian people, calling him the first president to voice explicit support for protesters.
"This president has done that, and I think he will likely have to follow through on it," he added.
During a Sunday appearance on "Fox & Friends Weekend," Retired Navy Vice Adm. Robert Harward called Iranian regime change "inevitable."
"This president does what he says. He's made that very clear in Venezuela and other places, so it's going to happen," he said.
"We stand behind the people of Iran. And don't forget what Iran was in the '70s: a prosperous nation that enjoyed all the values and support of the West, so I believe this is four or five decades in the coming — It will happen."
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Fox News' Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report.
Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.
