President Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to rule out the use of nuclear weapons against Iran, saying they are “not needed” and should “never be allowed to be used by anybody.”
"No, no. We don't need it. Why do I need it?" Trump told reporters at the White House.
He added, "Why would I use a nuclear weapon when we've totally, in a very conventional way, decimated them without it?"
While Trump dismissed the use of nuclear weapons, he has ordered the U.S. Navy to “shoot and kill” anyone placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz, saying there should be “no hesitation.”
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“Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!”
The escalated rhetoric comes the same day the U.S. military seized an Iran-linked ship in the Indian Ocean. The Department of Defense said the vessel was transporting oil from Iran and was reportedly headed to China.
Iran has also taken a more aggressive posture at sea. The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz, seizing two of them.
Despite the rising tensions, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran earlier this week. He said he would await a unified peace proposal from Tehran, claiming the government is fractured.
"We don't know who the leader is in Iran because remember regime change. Khamenei is gone. He's gone to greener pastures. He's gone and all of his team is gone," Trump said. "Then a second group came in. They're all gone. And now you have the third group. And they're a little concerned about being gone, too."
Iran has not acknowledged any fractures within its leadership and has cast doubt on negotiations with the United States as long as a blockade on Iranian ports remains in place.
“They did not achieve their goals through military aggression, nor will they through bullying,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said. “The only way forward is to recognize the rights of the Iranian nation.”
