Transcript: Karim Sadjadpour, Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” March 29, 2026

The following is the transcript of an interview with Iran policy analyst Karim Sadjadpour and former CENTCOM commander and CBS News contributor and retired General Frank McKenzie that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on March 29, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: For more on the ongoing war in Iran, we’re joined by Iran policy analyst Karim Sadjapour, and former CENTCOM commander and CBS News contributor, retired General Frank McKenzie, who joins us this morning from Tampa. Hello to both of you, Kareem, let me start with you today in Islamabad, you have Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, these mediators who say they are meeting together to talk about how to end the war. Iran, so far, has not responded to the 15 points the Trump administration has put forward, and Rubio said he is not sure who they will negotiate with. So what is the reality of who we are negotiating with, and whether we are negotiating

KARIM SADJADPOUR: Well, Margaret, this regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran, which came to power in 1979 is taking American diplomats. And now they think they have been captured by the global economy, and they are fighting a battle for survival. They are also waging a war of revenge against President Trump. So at the moment, they don’t feel compelled to compromise, it seems, because the trend lines are, oil prices are going up, the American public’s view of the war is going down, and many of these leaders we hope to interview are currently living underground, fighting for their lives.

Margaret Brenna Do you think this is a game changer, given that they were not only able to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, but another route through the Red Sea?

GEN. FRANK MCKENZIE: Margaret, I don’t think it’s going to change the game. Their ability to attack Israel is limited. Yes, they will be able to continue to slow traffic through the Bab el Mandeb, going up to the Suez Canal. We have the ability to go down there and prevent that. It will require more resources, but we have those resources, and we can do it if that is necessary.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the President has made it clear that he needs to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. His language has been conflicting on some of these points about who will do it and when. What is military reality that makes it through?

GEN. FRANK MCKENZIE: We’re on the way to doing that now, Margaret. This is part of a program that has been in place for many years. What we are doing right now is reducing the Iranian ability to target ships on the road through its short-range missiles, its drones and other activities. We do that by maintaining air superiority over southern Iran on a 24/7 basis, checking where these missiles are and hitting them relentlessly. Once we get those down to the lowest level, you’ll be able to go in and, if necessary, sweep the mines. I’m not sure if they’re putting mines in the water yet. I predict they will eventually. It is their nature, but we have the power to do this. We’re moving on, we’re on schedule. I will be honest with you. Margaret, I have modeled this for many years in many positions in Central Command, we are a little further than we expected to be at this point in all the simulations I have seen.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m going to guess in your analogy, you’re looking at what’s going to happen in the Strait of Hormuz, even though the President said nobody ever thought about it, thought about it, right?

GEN. FRANK MCKENZIE: The American military thinks a lot of things. Of course we have thought about the Strait of Hormuz from Kharg Island. Think of all those islands south of Iran.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Kareem, the president, said the Israelis killed the second-class pragmatist types who thought they could negotiate with them. A few days ago, the name that appeared was the Speaker of the Parliament, Ghalibaf. What do we know about him? Are you someone you can make a deal with?

KARIM SADJADPOUR: Ghalibaf, most importantly, was the Commander of the Supreme Revolutionary Guard and a close advisor to Mojtaba Khamenei. Under different circumstances he is an aspiring leader of modern Iran. I actually met him at the World Economic Forum in Davos, just that he’s from Davos tells you a little bit about his worldview. But under the current circumstances, none of that Iranian process can change the long-term view of antipathy towards America and Israel, even if they wanted to.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Explain that, if you will, because what we’re hearing from the White House and from Israel is that pressure will break them. Are you saying they don’t stop?

KARIM SADJADPOUR: At the moment, and this may change in the future, but we have not seen any cracks in the government’s decision. We have never seen cracks, cracks in the unity of the security forces, and considering that many of its top officials have been killed, including the Supreme Leader, it is a regime that is not willing to compromise or change its views. They actually believe that not liking America is part of their identity, and if you admit that, it doesn’t actually increase your shelf life, it can actually hasten your death.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So if there’s no negotiated settlement, how does this end?

KARIM SADJADPOUR: I don’t see that there can be a solution to this dispute. I think the US and Iran are miles apart when it comes to their intentions here. Now, I think we could see a possible ceasefire opening the Strait of Hormuz, which would move this back from a hot war back to a cold war. But nothing happens, in my opinion, as long as this regime is still in power, of the US, Iran, normalization.

MARGARET BRENNAN: General, do you agree with that assessment? I mean, it looks like the Trump administration is agreeing that the regime will stay if they at least promise to negotiate with the government so it will allow them to stay in power.

GEN. FRANK MCKENZIE: The main objective of Iranian statecraft, Margaret, is the survival of the regime. Back in the late 1980s they signed an accord with Iraq when things were going very badly for Iran. In Iranian history it is known that drinking is a poisoned sword. I believe they will break. I believe they will agree. And it may be an incomplete solution, but I think it could be one that includes opening the Strait of Hormuz, maybe some agreement on missiles, on missile systems, the nuclear program is a possibility, but I believe that in the end they will make an agreement. But we need to keep the pressure up. We need to keep pressing them harder, because that is, in fact, the only thing they will respond to.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So the President had sent to postpone the deadline for opening the Strait of Hormuz because the Iranian government was asking for it. He says he changed that until he arrived on April 6 at 8 p.m. We also hear from the secretary of state that he is talking to allies about the post-conflict need for other countries to help secure the road. And he said he would need tanks to have military bridesmaids. So this doesn’t feel like this is a temporary project. This sounds like even if the war ends, we will be talking about military presence in the region for some time. Am I wrong?

GEN. FRANK MCKENZIE: Margaret, you’re right. Let’s see what happens. I think it was discussed – there are two ways to open the Strait of Hormuz. It can be opened if the Iranians negotiate with us to open it. And of course, that is a desirable solution. Another solution would be, if they don’t, and they decide to fight, we can open the strait under that condition as well. The second scenario is obviously more powerful in terms of ships and equipment to be brought to the region, and yes, help from our partners would be very useful in that scenario. We have the ability to open the Strait of Hormuz under any condition the Iranians choose to exist under.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Does it appear to you that one of the contingencies the White House is planning, as they continue to move troops into the region, and you have these Marines moving into the region as well. Are they preparing for the presence of ground troops? And what does that look like?

GEN. FRANK MCKENZIE: Margaret, for many years, we’ve considered options on the south coast of Iran, taking islands, taking small bases, generally attacking. And an attack is a task with a planned retreat. You will not stay. But some of those islands you can capture and hold, that can have few consequences. First of all, it would humiliate Iran a lot, and it would give us a lot of weight in the negotiations. Second, the example of Kharg Island, which everyone is talking about. If you take Kharg Island, you can really shut down the Iranian oil economy completely. And the beauty of taking it is not wasting it. He keeps it for re-use by the global economy and possibly back to Iran under certain conditions. So all these things, this is not the back, these are not the back of the envelope calculations. These are things that we have been working on for many years, and I think we are right to threaten all the littorals to hold all these options out there. And I think the President’s message is evident when he talks about all these alternatives.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But can he achieve his goals without the underground military, which the Secretary of State said. And how does this end? How do you call this successful?

GEN. FRANK MCKENZIE: Sure, I think success looks like the Strait of Hormuz is open. We’re getting some kind of agreement on the ballistic missile program, some kind of agreement on the nuclear program. That’s about as much as you’d hope for. But I think they are very clever things that, to me, at least from a military point of view, would look like a victory. I believe that all those things are actually within us. We just need to keep going. Iran will eventually respond to the use of force. They know and understand, perhaps better than we do, what we have in the past. This administration is willing to use force. Some administrations are completely blocked by Iran. President Trump not blocked by Iran?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes. Well, the President says he wants a deal, although I know he thinks it’s going to be very difficult to reach and he said Vice President Vance is going to be directly involved here, Karim. What does that mean to you?

KARIM SADJADPOUR: Yes, the Iranians actually want to negotiate with Vice President Vance for several reasons. Number one, they think you come from the anti-war wing of the Republican Party. And number two, they think that because JD Vance wants to be president, he’s motivated to want to end this war as quickly as possible. And I agree with what General McKenzie said, we know five decades ago that this regime is only in danger under very clear circumstances, when it is faced with pressure that is accompanied by a clear political exit. I think the pressure is there. I don’t think they have seen a clear diplomatic exit.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, gentlemen, thank you both for lending us your knowledge for this discussion. We’ll have to leave it there. We’ll be back in a little while.