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A growing number of prominent Republicans and former officials are publicly calling for the United States to put boots on the ground in Iran.

Getting into it: During an appearance on Fox News, Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who served as Trump’s Ukraine envoy until earlier this year, argued that after five months of airstrikes there hasn’t been enough change in the United States’ favor. He also called for the US to replace its negotiating team, saying, “You do not have or need real estate guys to be talking about negotiation during the middle of a war,” and that the new team should be “a real hardcore son of a bitch that is just sitting on the ground and can really do it well.”

Kellogg added, “You’re going to need ground troops to do something. That doesn’t mean they go all the way to Tehran… But you could take a couple key strategic targets, that gives the president leverage and controls their economy.”

The White House hit back hard at Kellogg specifically. A senior official in the administration told The Hill that Kellogg “is openly criticizing the President’s decisions simply because he couldn’t get his way, and it is sad he has chosen to go down this sad path,” adding pointedly that “it’s a reason why he no longer serves in the Administration.”

Despite this, he’s not the only one calling for US boots on the ground. Rep. Pat Fallon, an ex-Air Force officer who chairs the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel, said he sees no alternative to a ground operation. “I personally think it’s going to be boots, at least special ops, American special operators, on the ground, with allies in the region and air cover,” he said, arguing “we can’t leave until the job is done.”

Fallon noted Iran’s sheer size makes it a far harder target than Iraq, with 93 million people compared to Iraq’s 25 million at the time of the 2003 invasion, but predicted that “80% of the people in Iran hate this regime” and would rise up.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, meanwhile, floated a narrower operation to seize Kharg Island, the Persian Gulf terminal that moves up to 90% of Iran’s crude exports. “I think eventually, President Trump’s either going to destroy it or take it over,” he said.

Trump himself hasn’t ruled it out. He told The Hill he’s keeping ground troops on the table if Iran won’t cut a deal.

This all comes as Mohsen Rezaee, one of the Supreme Leader’s top advisers and a former IRGC commander, threatened on state TV that US ships patrolling the strait “will be sunk by our first missiles,” and claimed that a ground invasion would actually play into Tehran’s hands because “we would take thousands of hostages and for each hostage we would get a billion dollars.”

He said Iran was “fully prepared and experienced in long-term war” and was now “setting the preconditions” for any talks.