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Chinese AI models raise ‘sleeper agent’ fears after report finds more vulnerable code for US users
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Chinese AI models used to write code may be creating a hidden security risk for U.S. companies, federal officials and government contractors, per a new report published by a major defense contractor specializing in cyber security.
Booz Allen published a report in late May warning the federal government, private software developers and workers in critical industries that the presence of code written by popular Chinese AI models within the supply chain may be making the United States more vulnerable to bad faith actors. These vulnerabilities aren’t simple backdoors, Booz Allen reports, but rather come in the form of Chinese large language models producing lower-quality, and thus easier to breach, code when they believe they are being prompted by an American.
Chinese models are generally cheaper than their Western counterparts and work well enough to keep companies interested, a dynamic that has led to increased adoption in the United States and put some policymakers and national security experts on edge.
«I’d say there’s an 80% chance they’re using a Chinese open-source model,» Martin Casado, a general partner at the major venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, said in November 2025 when asked about their prevalence among start ups. Major U.S. firms such as Meta, Airbnb and Perplexity are also reportedly using Chinese models.
The DeepSeek AI app is shown on a smartphone screen with the Chinese flag in the background. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)
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«The first link in the software supply chain is no longer the code. It’s the AI models behind it,» the Booz Allen report reads. «As U.S. developers increasingly rely on AI to generate, debug, and secure code, we must confront a fundamental question: can the AI models writing and powering our nation’s code be trusted?»
In an attempt to answer this question, Booz Allen compared four of the most widely used Chinese models — Kimi, Qwen, MiniMax and DeepSeek — against Anthropic’s Claude to test the security of the code they produced. The firms behind the four Chinese models did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
Qwen and MiniMax both produced code with significantly more vulnerabilities, increases of 130% and 20%, respectively, when they believed they were doing work for U.S. government employees as compared to a general prompt. DeepSeek, meanwhile, saw an increase of just 5% while Kimi produced code of a similar quality.
This means a government contractor relying on one of these models could unknowingly introduce coding flaws that make databases, applications or internal systems easier for hackers to exploit, potentially exposing sensitive American information.
The findings have drawn comparisons to so-called «sleeper agent» behavior where AI models appear to operate normally until exposed to a specific trigger that causes them to produce lower quality, or even deliberately insecure, outputs.
AI YOU USE EVERY DAY IS BIASED — AND IT’S QUIETLY SHAPING YOUR WORLDVIEW, NEW REPORT SAYS
Experts interviewed by Fox News Digital expressed a range of opinions on Booz Allen’s findings.
«While the raised risk categories are understandable, the report’s stronger claims are not fully supported as presented,» Lukasz Olejnik, a technology consultant who works as a senior research fellow at King’s College London, told Fox News Digital. «The report underplays the complexity of the issue.»
If Booz Allen’s report were accurate, and if code written by Chinese models had made its way into the American supply chain, it would make it easier for hackers to get their hands on data that could imperil national security or infringe on the privacy of everyday Americans.
Olejnik argued that the prompting used by Booz Allen was unnatural, saying that the firm’s methodology may have included «unnecessary political or institutional keyword triggers,» such as explicitly prompting models to believe a user is working for the FBI, that «may change outputs.» It is unlikely, he says, that an actual government agent would prompt the model in such a way.
Booz Allen claims that «testing model behaviors by introducing specific context is a best practice in both defensive and offensive evaluations.»
«I use various open-source models daily, including U.S. and Chinese,» the researcher, who holds a computer science Ph.D. from Inria, one of the world’s leading research institutions in the field, said. «Chinese models are so useful precisely because they are performant and freely available. Prohibiting open source models is not a good idea; it would stifle AI innovation and national security … The best approach to go beyond them is to encourage U.S. and EU companies to release their own high-capability open-weight models.»
Open source models made their underlying code directly viewable by users, allowing for security audits and edits, though even some open source programs harbor hidden vulnerabilities inserted by malicious actors.
ANTHROPIC’S MYTHOS AI FOUND OVER 2,000 UNKNOWN SOFTWARE VULNERABILITIES IN JUST SEVEN WEEKS OF TESTING
Pages from the Anthropic website and the company’s logos are displayed on a computer screen in New York on Feb. 26, 2026. (Patrick Sison/AP Photo)
While Olejnik agreed that «model outputs can shift under variety of prompts,» he added that «insufficient evidence has been posted to verify the causal claims or generalize them to Chinese LLMs as a class.»
Lenart Heim, an independent researcher specializing in AI and semiconductors, was more open to Booz Allen’s findings.
«It seems like a credible study, and I don’t find the overall findings incredibly surprising,» the researcher told Fox News Digital.
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The flag of China is flown behind a pair of surveillance cameras outside the Central Government Offices. (Roy Liu/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Heim, who holds a master’s in computer engineering from the prestigious ETH Zurich and was until recently a top AI researcher at the RAND Corporation, pointed to a similar study published by CrowdStrike in 2025, which found that politically sensitive trigger words caused DeepSeek to produce up to 50% more insecure code.
«The extreme version of what we’re worried about here is what researchers call ‘sleeper agents,’» Heim continued. «There’s an existing paper from Anthropic that demonstrates you can train models to behave normally until a specific trigger condition is met — say, a particular year or context — at which point they start writing insecure code.»
In the Booz Allen study, he explained, identifying oneself as a U.S. government agent was presented as such a trigger. Heim, however, said that he found it «pretty implausible that the Chinese developers intentionally implemented sleeper agents with these specific triggers,» suggesting that the increased code insecurity was a side effect of broader «CCP-aligned fine-tuning» and that «the security differential they found is probably not that large in practice.»
AI applications Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini are shown in this image. The photo was taken by Samuel Boivin and provided by NurPhoto via Getty Images. (Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
AI MODELS CAN SECRETLY INFECT EACH OTHER
«It is certainly possible to implement sleeper agents in these models for specific situations to write insecure code,» he went on. «You might think: ‘Well, I won’t tell the model I’m in the US government — I’ll just ask it to write code.’ But as we move toward more agentic use, there will be lots of contextual information automatically fed to the model. You might give it an existing codebase, and that codebase often has a license header at the top that reveals which company or government agency it belongs to. That context could activate degraded behavior.»
A source at Booz Allen told Fox News Digital that the authors of the report defined «vulnerabilities» as «code that can be exploited by an attacker» to allow for «unauthorized access, data theft, system disruption, or control of the affected software.» The report looked at common security flaws such as «hardcoded passwords, SQL injection risks, missing security tokens, outdated encryption and disabled security checks.»
Booz Allen’s analysts used both manual verification and automated checks to quantify the number of vulnerabilities in programs produced by each model.
A representative for Booz Allen told Fox News Digital that their team accessed the Chinese models online rather than using downloading them directly to their machines and running them locally. Heim said that Chinese models accessed in this way may be more prone to bias.
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Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., arrives for a vote in the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2025, stating the war with Iran will continue for weeks as the U.S. limits their offensive capabilities. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The report also found that Chinese LLMs refused to perform tasks that could conflict with the interests of the Chinese government at significantly higher rates than Claude. Similar tests performed by others have netted similar results.
«Many Chinese LLMs learn from data shaped by China’s internet and Chinese government information controls,» the report notes. «Chinese law requires all AI models, training outputs, and data to reflect ‘Core Socialist Values.’»
Booz Allen recommended that the United States government take action to ban Chinese models for use on government or infrastructure work and recommended that contractors involved in such sectors, as well as the tech community generally, proactively work to remove code generated by such models from their supply chains.
«A lower-cost model may look attractive upfront, especially for startups or cost-constrained engineering teams,» the report reads. «But that same model can become more expensive over time if it generates vulnerable code, creates uncertainty around data handling, or introduces behavior that standard enterprise controls do not easily catch.»
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Booz Allen’s point of view has some sympathizers on Capitol Hill.
«American companies shouldn’t build applications and write code with Chinese models, which introduce more cyber vulnerabilities,» Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News Digital when presented with Booz Allen’s report. «And the federal government should certainly not buy software from companies using Chinese coding tools.»
china, technologies, artificial intelligence
Mexico questions FBI role in Sinaloa Cartel abduction
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum strongly criticizes the U.S. government for its alleged involvement in the 2024 abduction of former Sinaloa Cartel boss ‘El Mayo’ Zambada. Sheinbaum explicitly states the U.S. lied about its participation, claiming a violation of Mexican sovereignty. This incident raises serious questions about diplomatic relations between the two nations and American intervention in Mexico.
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The U.S. State Department said a «threat against American interests» forced the United States to suspend all of its government activities in a Mexican state where visitors face a risk of violence «from terrorist groups, cartels, gangs and criminal organizations.»
The warning from the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Mexico about the state of Michoacan, which is located west of Mexico City, includes a halt to the inspections of avocados required for their export, according to The Associated Press.
«Due to a threat against American interests, U.S. government activities in Michoacan State have been suspended as of August 5,» the message read. «Reminder that the U.S. travel advisory designates Michoacan as a Level 4 ‘Do Not Travel’ area.»
While the U.S. embassy did not specify the nature of the threat in its security alert, Michoacan Gov. Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla said on social media that a temporary halt to avocado inspections was intended to safeguard workers following recent arrests linked to alleged extortion, the AP reported.
5 MEXICAN CARTEL BOSSES CHARGED IN WEAPONS, DRUG TRAFFICKING, TIMESHARE FRAUD SCHEMES, DOJ SAYS
Members of the Civil Guard of Michoacan patrol a highway with armored vehicles after a wave of violence in Aguililla, Mexico, on Feb. 24, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
The western state of Michoacan is the leading exporter of avocados to the U.S. and has a high level of organized crime activity with at least four cartels — designated as terrorist organizations by the Trump administration — operating in the region. Besides trafficking drugs, cartels also make money through extortion, including of the avocado industry.
The State Department warns Americans to «exercise increased caution» throughout Mexico due to «terrorism, crime, and kidnapping.»
For Michoacan state, it said, «There is a risk of violence in the state from terrorist groups, cartels, gangs and criminal organizations.»
Michoacan State Security Secretary Antonio Cruz told the AP that one of the arrests mentioned by the governor was of «El Poncho,» the alias of Alfonso Fernández Magallón, leader of a local cartel operating in the avocado-growing region around Los Reyes.
SINALOA CARTEL BOSS ‘EL MAYO’ SENTENCED TO LIFE, ORDERED TO PAY $15B IN DRUG TRAFFICKING PROFITS
Members of the self-defense group Pueblos Unidos carry out guard duties to protect avocado plantations from drug cartels in Ario de Rosales, Michoacan, Mexico, on July 8, 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson welcomed the arrest, which came over the weekend. The U.S. government had offered a $5 million reward.
Cruz said his department was unaware of any direct incidents involving the avocado inspectors. However, 300 security personnel were deployed to the Los Reyes area as a preventive measure.
The governor said the priority was to «ensure the security conditions necessary for these operations to resume normally,» as has happened in the past.
In 2025, Mexico sold $3.65 billion worth of avocados to the United States, and in the first four months of this year, those exports rose by 35% compared to the same period in the previous year.
Members of the Civil Guard of Michoacan patrol a highway in armored vehicles after a wave of violence in Aguililla, Mexico, on Feb. 24, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture sends inspectors in Mexico to monitor plantations and packing houses to ensure that exported produce is free of pests. Threats and violence against the inspectors have caused the U.S. to suspend inspections in the past.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
mexican cartel violence, state department, location mexico, national security, world
INTERNACIONAL
Ministerio de Gobernación de Guatemala lanza la estrategia nacional de datos abiertos y abre una consulta ciudadana
Guatemala lanzó la Estrategia Nacional de Datos Abiertos con el liderazgo del Ministerio de Gobernación para modernizar la gestión pública y ampliar la transparencia, en un proceso que además abre una consulta ciudadana para definir cómo las instituciones producirán, administrarán y compartirán información oficial.
La participación pública se canalizará a través del portal participacionciudadana.gob.gt, donde podrán integrarse aportes de organizaciones de sociedad civil, academia, medios de comunicación y ciudadanía en general.
El instrumento busca reunir información clara, precisa y accesible sobre la gestión gubernamental, proyectos y otras acciones impulsadas por el Organismo Ejecutivo.
Durante el lanzamiento, el ministro de Gobernación Marco Antonio Villeda sostuvo que la herramienta debe construirse con criterios técnicos, participación y estándares internacionales que garanticen calidad, seguridad y utilidad de los datos.
En esa línea, planteó que el objetivo es modificar la forma en que el Estado maneja la información pública.
Villeda definió el alcance de la iniciativa en estos términos: “Queremos una estrategia que cambie la manera en que las instituciones producen, administran y comparten la información pública”.
El ministro agregó que los datos abiertos permiten a las personas acceder a información pública, utilizarla, analizarla y compartirla. También afirmó: “Un gobierno que utiliza bien sus datos puede planificar mejor, responder mejor y rendir cuentas con mayor claridad. La modernización del Estado acerca las instituciones a la ciudadanía”.
La estrategia fue presentada como un paso para fortalecer la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas en la administración pública. El proceso también fue descrito como una vía para ampliar la supervisión social, el análisis de asuntos públicos y la participación de distintos sectores en la construcción de políticas de acceso a la información.
La viceministra de Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones Karen Ortiz explicó que cuando la información pública es accesible, reutilizable y está disponible en formatos abiertos, aumentan la rendición de cuentas, la participación ciudadana y las oportunidades para la innovación, la investigación y el desarrollo económico.
Ortiz añadió que los datos abiertos son una herramienta para construir gobiernos transparentes, eficientes y cercanos a la ciudadanía. También señaló que la hoja de ruta trazada tiene como meta la participación activa de todos los sectores sociales en la elaboración de la estrategia.
Rose Diegues, representante residente adjunta del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD), destacó el liderazgo del Ministerio de Gobernación en la preparación y futura implementación de la estrategia. Según explicó, el organismo acompaña a las instituciones del grupo motor en actividades de transformación digital, inteligencia artificial y elaboración de la política de datos abiertos.
Diegues describió ese respaldo con una referencia directa al programa en marcha: “Estamos apoyando a las instituciones del grupo motor para que desarrollen las actividades de transformación digital, de inteligencia artificial y de la elaboración de la estrategia de datos abiertos”.
De acuerdo con información difundida por PNUD Guatemala, este proceso forma parte del Programa Conjunto “Habilitando la transformación digital y mejorando la prestación de servicios públicos a gran escala en Guatemala”, implementado por ONU Guatemala a través del PNUD y financiado por la Unión Europea mediante el Joint SDG Fund. La publicación indicó además que la estrategia busca fortalecer la transparencia, impulsar la innovación y mejorar el aprovechamiento de los datos públicos para responder a necesidades de la ciudadanía.
En la actividad participaron el secretario de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia Carlos Mendoza, el titular de la Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología Adolfo Monterroso, la coordinadora de la Comisión Presidencial de Gobierno Abierto y Electrónico Wendy Miranda y la subsecretaria privada de la Presidencia Julissa Cifuentes. También asistieron integrantes de la Mesa de Transformación Digital, miembros de organismos internacionales y representantes de instituciones del Grupo Motor de la Estrategia Nacional de Datos Abiertos.
Entre esas entidades figuran la Comisión Presidencial de Gobierno Abierto y Electrónico, la Secretaría de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia, la Secretaría Privada de la Presidencia, la Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, la Comisión Nacional contra la Corrupción y el Ministerio de Comunicaciones, Infraestructura y Vivienda. La actividad se realizó en la sede del Ministerio de Gobernación.
Guatemala,Gobernación,Gobierno,Reunión,Funcionarios
INTERNACIONAL
Gen Keane questions whether Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar can be trusted in Iran talks
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Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane questioned whether Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia can be trusted to help shape negotiations with Iran, accusing the regional partners of steering President Donald Trump away from military pressure while leaving the United States and Israel to bear the risks of confronting Tehran.
Keane, a Fox News senior strategic analyst and former Army vice chief of staff, said during a Monday appearance on Fox News’ «America’s Newsroom» that Pakistan and Qatar were «compromised» as mediators because, in his view, they favor Iran over the United States.
«It is well known in the Middle East region, by our intelligence services, by all the players, that the Pakistanis and the Qataris are compromised because they favor Iran at the expense of the United States,» Keane said. «This is historical. This is not new.»
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Vice President JD Vance (center) walks with Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir (left), and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar after arriving for talks with Iranian officials on April 11, 2026, in Islamabad. (Jacquelyn Martin – Pool/Getty Images)
Keane’s criticism contrasts with Trump’s public praise for Islamabad.
Trump said April 26 during a phone interview with Fox News that he had «great respect for Pakistan» because its officials had «been terrific» and «really tried» to advance negotiations with Iran. He added that Pakistan would remain involved in the process.
While speaking to reporters after the G7 summit in France on June 18, Trump also credited Pakistan and Qatar with helping advance the negotiations that produced the U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly also defended the administration’s regional partners, telling Fox News Digital that, «President Trump has great relationships with leaders from Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and he appreciates the involvement of all of our regional partners who are assisting with negotiations.»
«If Iran cannot agree to a good deal with the United States, the fault will lie squarely with the regime, who will suffer the consequences,» Kelly added.
Mediators were preparing a second memorandum focused exclusively on the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday reports indicated, potentially separating the immediate maritime crisis from the broader dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities.
Keane, a former four-star general, argued that their involvement may have contributed to Washington misunderstanding Iran’s intentions.
«And yet they’re mediators,» Keane said. «So their influence here, I think, had played a part in misleading the United States in terms of Iran’s real intentions.»
TRUMP SAYS SAUDI NUCLEAR AGREEMENT WON’T MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT ABRAHAM ACCORDS: ‘THEY HAVE TO BE A MEMBER’
Foreign workers look at a tall plume of black smoke ascends following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026. Iran’s strikes on Gulf neighbors since February 28, following the U.S.-Israeli attack, forced the UAE to shut its airspace, blindsiding travelers who thought they were headed to one of the region’s safest holiday destinations. (Fadel Senna / AFP via Getty Images)
Pakistan and Qatar have played formal roles in the diplomatic process.
A June 22 joint statement from the two countries said they were mediating talks between the United States and Iran under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding. The framework established working groups on nuclear issues, sanctions, monitoring and dispute resolution, as well as a mechanism intended to prevent incidents involving commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Pakistan declined to comment on Keane’s criticism. The Saudi and Qatari embassies in Washington did not respond by the time of publication.
Raza Rumi, editor-at-large of Pakistan’s The Friday Times, disputed Keane’s characterization, arguing that Islamabad’s working relationship with Tehran does not make it a compromised mediator.
IS THIS TRUMP’S LAST ‘LAST CHANCE’? CEASELESS STRING OF BROKEN CEASEFIRES FUELS DOUBT OVER IRAN DEAL
«Successful mediators are often those that enjoy channels of communication with all sides,» Rumi told Fox News Digital, saying Pakistan’s approach is shaped more by geography, security and economic concerns than ideological alignment with Iran.
He noted that Pakistan shares a long border with Iran and wants to prevent further instability, while also maintaining longstanding ties with the United States and close partnerships with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Rumi also pointed to the exchange of strikes between Pakistan and Iran in January 2024 as evidence that relations between the neighbors are not uniformly close.
An oil tanker is on fire in the sea of Oman, Thursday, June 13, 2019. Two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz were reportedly attacked on Thursday, an assault that left one ablaze and adrift as sailors were evacuated from both vessels and the U.S. Navy rushed to assist amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran. (AP Photo/ISNA)
«The suggestion that Pakistan somehow caused Washington to misunderstand Tehran’s intentions is difficult to substantiate,» Rumi said. «It would be a considerable stretch to attribute any American misreading of Iran’s intentions to Pakistani mediation.»
Keane directed even sharper criticism at Saudi Arabia, saying that Riyadh denied the United States access to Saudi airspace and a U.S. air base during preparations for a possible operation to forcibly reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He also claimed Saudi officials had repeatedly persuaded Trump not to resume major military operations against Iran.
«The fact of the matter is, the Saudis are not willing to sacrifice to rid the Middle East region of Iran’s aggression,» Keane said, describing the potential costs as casualties and damage to Saudi oil infrastructure.
«They’re willing for us to make that sacrifice, for sure,» he added. «They’re willing for Israel to make that sacrifice, for sure.»
His remarks highlighted a broader debate over whether Saudi caution represents an unwillingness to confront Tehran or a strategic effort to prevent an open-ended regional war.
GULF COUNTRIES STRONGLY CONDEMN IRAN’S DRONE ATTACK ON BAHRAIN AS RISING TENSIONS THREATEN MOU
Salman Al-Ansari, a Saudi geopolitical analyst, rejected the suggestion that Riyadh is unwilling to confront Iran, saying the Kingdom distinguishes between credible deterrence and military action without clear objectives. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Salman Al-Ansari, a Saudi geopolitical analyst, rejected the suggestion that Riyadh is unwilling to confront Iran, saying the Kingdom distinguishes between credible deterrence and military action without clear objectives.
«Saudi Arabia supports confronting Iranian aggression, but not an open-ended regional war without clear objectives or an endgame,» Al-Ansari told Fox News Digital.
«Riyadh favors diplomacy backed by credible deterrence, but any agreement must be enforceable and verifiable, addressing Iran’s nuclear program, its proxies, and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,» he added.
A Gulf affairs analyst who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue offered a different assessment, saying Saudi leaders fear that a wider confrontation would expose the Kingdom’s critical infrastructure to Iranian retaliation.
«Saudi Arabia believes it should appease Iran because it is deeply concerned about the consequences of a broader confrontation,» the analyst said. «Riyadh fears the damage Iran could inflict on the Kingdom’s infrastructure and has therefore favored restraint and negotiations over a decisive military campaign.»
The analyst described a widening divide among Gulf states, arguing that Saudi Arabia and Qatar favor accommodation while the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait support stronger pressure on Iran.
Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank and former National Security Council official, said during a separate Fox News appearance Wednesday, that Washington continues to depend on Saudi infrastructure even as disagreements persist over military strategy.
«When we talk about the Gulf states, we talk about Saudi Arabia and General Keane’s comments, remember, we also are relying on Saudi Arabia with their overland pipelines to keep us in the game here,» Goldberg said. «The fact that they’re at maximum capacity moving through the Red Sea also allows us to continue the strangulation strategy.»
TRUMP WARNS IRAN FIGHTING ISN’T OVER AS HE VOWS US WILL ‘WIN’ AS TALKS FADE
President Donald Trump attends a business forum at Qasr Al Watan during the final stop of his Gulf visit, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 16, 2025. (Amr Alfiky/Reuters )
The debate comes as the United States and Iran continue negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz.
Oman, Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia all have been involved in the diplomatic effort, while reports Wednesday indicated that mediators were working on an interim arrangement that could establish separate shipping routes through Iranian and Omani waters as broader nuclear negotiations continue.
The central question is whether those negotiations can produce an enforceable agreement or merely allow Tehran to preserve its leverage over the waterway.
Keane said he remained doubtful that Iran was prepared to surrender meaningful control.
«They are not going to give up the Strait of Hormuz,» he said. «They think it’s a strategic asset.»
He predicted Iran would seek to retain some degree of control over the waterway and warned that reaching an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program would be even more difficult.
Iran sent an unprecedented «whole-regime» team to the U.S. deal talks which signals one priority, a counterterrorism expert said. (URS FLUEELER/Pool via REUTERS)
«My gut feeling here is no,» Keane said when asked whether Iran was prepared to reach and implement a substantive agreement. «The president is not going to make a bad deal here.»
war with iran, pakistan, saudi arabia, middle east, national security, iran
Javier Milei y sus medidas, EN VIVO: el Presidente ya está en Ecuador, donde hoy se reunirá con su par Daniel Noboa
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