Blaine Holt, a retired Air Force brigadier general, told Newsmax on Friday that Iran is fracturing into rival factions and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is nearing extinction, even as Washington and Tehran scramble to preserve a ceasefire.

Holt spoke on "Carl Higbie: FRONTLINE" hours after U.S. aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar installations in response to a drone attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.

The strikes followed Thursday's IRGC drone strike on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship, which President Donald Trump called a "foolish violation" of the ceasefire agreement on Truth Social.

U.S. Central Command said American aircraft hit targets along the strait and on Iran's Qeshm Island, framing the operation as a powerful response to what it called Iranian aggression against commercial shipping.

Holt argued that the picture in Iran is no longer coherent.

"They're in chaos. They have no fewer than four separate regimes right now, one of which is negotiating with us," he said.

He suggested Thursday's ship attack may not have been sanctioned at the top, saying: "We don't know if Iran officially fired on a ship."

He framed the U.S. response as a clear deterrent.

"Just a little while ago, we went and started vaporizing a lot of targets in those islands, radars, drone sites, weapon stores," Holt said. "If you do this type of stuff, we will go after you."

He predicted more strikes ahead, paired with continued diplomacy.

"There is more military action ahead. But there's also negotiations and diplomacy about what the final deal will be," Holt said.

He described the Iranian civilian negotiators meeting with American counterparts as cornered.

"You've got these guys who are negotiating with us," he said. "They're civilians. They're trying."

"But they know that if they go to Tehran, they're going to be facing bullets from the very IRGC that knows there's only one way off the planet for them," Holt said.

He described the IRGC as "an extinct species."

"It's just in its final throes. And we're going to have to deal with this right now," Holt said.

The interview came as Vice President JD Vance disclosed a new military deconfliction channel under which the IRGC and CENTCOM representatives will be stationed in Doha, Qatar, to manage incidents in real time.

Holt also pointed to street-level unrest, saying: "In the last five days, we've seen revolts in the cities of Iran, and the people are starting now to take matters into their own hands. Why? There's no food and water, and so they're on it."

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