ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos asked the same question multiple times to try to get Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) to answer whether ground troops would be needed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. 

On This Week, Stephanopoulos asked, “The president suggested that the Straits of Hormuz could open ‘naturally.’ Is that realistic or is it going to take ground troops?”

Turner, who sits on the Armed Forces Committee, answered:

In any conflict, certainly, Iran is going to have some things that they’re going to be able to do during the conflict. But if you don’t undertake the conflict, if you just step back and watch as the Obama administration was going to do while Iran became a nuclear power and they became North Korea, we wouldn’t be looking at the Strait of Hormuz, we’d be looking at what’s, you know…having Europe be at risk, you’d have the United States being at risk, you’d have all of our allies. And ultimately the continental United States at risk from Iran and the whole world being held hostage by a terrorist state. In this, as they in their last throes, you know, begin to do whatever they have left as a state militarily, they still are being significantly diminished and their ability to be able to be marching toward a nuclear state is being eliminated.

“Right, but what I asked you about was the Straits of Hormuz. The Straits of Hormuz are still closed to most traffic right now. Can it be reopened without American ground troops?” Stephanopoulos asked again.

“Well, I think, you know, certainly you’re seeing that even as this conflict evolves, that that is being put in place. And I don’t think U.S. ground troops are going to be necessary in any direct conflict,” Turner said before focusing on eliminating Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“And that was the goal,” Turner said. “And that is an incredibly important goal for the safety of the United States.”

Stephanopoulos said, “So, I guess, are you saying that as long as the nuclear capability is diminished, it doesn’t matter whether we open up the Straits of Hormuz?”

“No, the Straits of Hormuz are going to be open, and it’s it certainly is important to occur, but you can’t say, well, as long as the straits are open, we don’t, we can let them continue to be a power that marches toward being a nuclear power that continues to develop missile technology that can threaten the United States and threaten Europe and continue to perfect long-range missile technology.”

Stephanopoulos bluntly asked one last time: “Will it take ground troops or not to open up the straits?”

“I don’t believe so,” Turner said. “I think that certainly that this is going to be, again, a diminishing regime as as it’s ongoing.”

Watch the clip above via ABC News’s This Week.

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