President Donald Trump on Thursday ruled out using nuclear weapons to end the Iran war.
Trump was asked during an Oval Office press event if he would consider the move in order to get Iran to capitulate fully. The question came as peace talks between Washington and Tehran have hit a standstill.
“Why would a stupid question like that be asked?” Trump said in response. “Why would I use a nuclear weapon when we’ve totally, in a very conventional way, decimated them without it?”
“No, I wouldn’t use it,” Trump said. “A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody.”
Earlier this month, Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran’s “whole civilization will die” if the country was unwilling to strike a deal with the United States. The comments, which White House officials have claimed were a threat to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure, spurred outrage among both Republicans and Democrats.
Trump ruled out using nuclear weapons just hours after posting on Truth Social that he’d given the order for the U.S. military to destroy any Iranian vessel planting mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
WATCH: DRAMATIC MOMENT US FORCES BOARD VESSEL ACCUSED OF TRANSPORTING IRANIAN OIL
“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be (Their naval ships are ALL, 159 of them, at the bottom of the sea!), that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote. “There is to be no hesitation.”
Earlier in the day, U.S. forces also interdicted and boarded a vessel allegedly carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean.
