Trump Says He Would Not Use Nuclear Weapons Against Iran

US President Donald Trump has said he would not use nuclear weapons against Iran, distancing himself from earlier rhetoric in which he issued extreme threats toward the country.

“No, I wouldn’t use it,” Trump told journalists at the White House on Thursday.

He questioned the need for nuclear escalation, saying: “Why would I use a nuclear weapon when we’ve, in a very conventional way, decimated them without it?”

“A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody,” he added.

The statement comes after Trump’s April 7 warning that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back,” a remark that preceded a ceasefire agreement later reached in the US- and Israel-linked conflict, which has since been extended.

During the hostilities, US Vice President JD Vance warned of intensified action against Iran using non-traditional weapons, though the White House clarified he was not referring to nuclear arms.

Vance had been involved in unsuccessful negotiations, pushing Tehran for stronger concessions on its nuclear programme.

Trump reiterated that US policy is aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

“Iran without a nuclear weapon that’s going to try and blow up one of our cities or blow up the entire Middle East,” he said.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful, while the International Atomic Energy Agency has said there was no indication of an imminent nuclear weapon prior to the conflict.

The US remains the only country to have used nuclear weapons in war, during World War II in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing about 214,000 people. Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons but does not publicly acknowledge them.

Trump’s comments contrast with longstanding US nuclear doctrine, which retains the option of first use. He has also previously called for the end of the US moratorium on nuclear testing, citing alleged tests by China and Russia.

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