Trump rules out nuclear weapons against Iran, says ground troops unlikely
Trump says Washington does not need nuclear weapons to achieve its objectives in Iran, as the US military prepares additional strike options
US President Donald Trump has ruled out using nuclear weapons against Iran and said he does not expect to deploy ground troops, as the US military prepares additional strike options against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear facilities.
Trump on MOAB
In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday (October 15), Trump said the “mother of all bombs” was a conventional weapon and that Washington did not need nuclear arms to achieve its objectives. The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb weighs about 21,600 pounds and is the largest non-nuclear weapon in the US arsenal.
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“Well, the mother of all bombs is not nuclear. It's not nuclear at all. This is just an extremely large bomb. It's like a tiny nuclear bomb, but the mother of all bombs is one big bomb. But it's not nuclear. No, I wouldn't use nuclear. We don't have to,” Trump said.
Asked about sending American troops into Iran, he said, “I don't see that. I don't.”
US military prepares further strike options
CNN reported that Trump had directed the military to prepare further strike plans, including possible attacks on energy infrastructure and nuclear sites such as Pickaxe Mountain. The options reportedly include MOAB.
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The report, quoting sources, further stated that the options included “a lot of energy infrastructure”, adding that the plans for strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, including Pickaxe Mountain, included the possible use of the MOAB.
The military options could be considered if Trump decides to resume combat operations before or after the November midterm elections, CNN reported.
‘Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons’
Trump also reiterated his intention to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, claiming that US strikes had already damaged the country's nuclear facilities.
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“We want to make it so that they will never have a nuclear weapon, because if they had it, they would use it, in my opinion, instantaneously,” Trump said.
“We've knocked them out. We've knocked out their sites, their nuclear (facility) is buried under millions of tonnes of mountain. Now we're looking at Pickaxe Mountain. We may have to go there. We'll take a shot at that one. We'll knock it out fast,” he added.