GOP Rep. Turner: Trump ‘Stopped’ Iran’s Ability to Become a Nuclear Power

Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) said the Trump administration’s military strikes in Iran had ended its ability to become a nuclear power.

Partial transcript as follows:

TURNER: What’s important here is that the inevitability of this conflict, as we look from the beginning, which was the issue, of course, Iran pursuing its nuclear ambitions. And from the beginning of the president saying that we’re going to truncate those, as we had, you know, Obama step in and say with his nuclear enrichment deal, we’re just going to step back and watch as Iran continues to get closer and closer to a nuclear weapon, this president saying, no, we’re going to take military action to stop them from doing so.

Now, with this intervention, the president saying, we’re going to intervene to stop their ability to have a military in which they can project force against the United States and our allies. In that you’re seeing Iran’s ability to be able to project force, their ability to be the, you know, state sponsor of terrorism, their ability to hurt our allies in the United States to be diminished and their — certainly their ability to continue to pursue what they were on the verge of being able to become a nuclear power, stopped. That is incredibly important.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: It is important. At the same time, what we’re seeing with the Straits of Hormuz closed, American gas prices going up, oil spiking around the world. The president suggested that the Straits of Hormuz could open naturally. Is that realistic or is it going to take ground troops?

TURNER: Well, George, in any conflict, the certainly, you know, 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, host — 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 — 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.

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