Trump Rules Out Nuclear Weapons and Ground Troops in Iran as MOAB Strike Plans Are Reported
CBS and CNN reported plans to use the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal if the president orders strikes. Trump has said he won't resume strikes before the midterms.
By Watchman Report staff ·
President Donald Trump said he would not use nuclear weapons against Iran. "I wouldn't use nuclear. We don't have to. We're the greatest nuclear power in the world," he told Newsmax in an interview broadcast Thursday, CNBC reported. Asked about putting "troops on the ground," he said, "No, I don't see that, I don't see it." He did not confirm or deny reports about using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, the MOAB, saying only that "the mother of all bombs is not nuclear."
The White House and Pentagon have prepared plans to use a MOAB against military sites in Iran if Trump orders it, sources told CBS News, after CNN first reported the plans Thursday. A White House spokesperson said, "We do not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist. President Trump keeps all options on the table to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon." The MOAB is the largest U.S. non-nuclear bomb, weighing upwards of 30,000 pounds, and it was used in 2017 against an Islamic State cave complex in Afghanistan.
Trump said on Oct. 8 that he would not order military strikes to resume before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The U.S. is enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports, and Trump has floated strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, including the deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency has recorded eight attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz since Oct. 11, CNBC reported.
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