Last Updated on 2 months by Ashley Michael
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration has not ruled out using tactical nuclear weapons against Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear facility, a White House official told Fox News Thursday, contradicting earlier reports.
The official rejected claims that President Donald Trump was not considering tactical nuclear options, stating “none of the options are off the table” and expressing confidence that conventional bunker-buster bombs could destroy the facility.
The statement followed a Guardian report Wednesday claiming defense officials briefed that only a tactical nuclear weapon could reach Fordow, buried deep within a mountain, but that Trump was not considering the nuclear option.
Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich reported the official called The Guardian’s report “false” and denied “that any options [including tactical nukes] have been taken off the table.”
Russia warned Friday that any U.S. use of tactical nuclear weapons against Iran would be “catastrophic,” according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by state news agency TASS.
The Pentagon declined to comment, referring instead to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s June 16 statement about deploying “additional capabilities” to the Middle East to enhance defensive posture.
Tactical nuclear weapons are smaller than strategic warheads and designed for limited battlefield strikes. No nuclear weapon has been used in combat since the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan in 1945.
Trump said Thursday he would decide within two weeks whether the U.S. would join Israel’s military campaign against Iranian nuclear sites, which began June 13.
The president told reporters Wednesday he hasn’t decided whether to strike Fordow, stating, “We’re the only ones that have the capability to do it — but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it.”
Human rights activists report at least 639 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Iran, though figures remain unverified.