Mr. Trump criticized the question of using nuclear weapons with Iran

In the Oval Office on August 31, a reporter asked US President Donald Trump if he would rule out the possibility of using nuclear weapons against Iran, a day after the two countries launched their first direct attack on each other since late July.

Mr. Trump replied, “The answer is that the US does exclude” and emphasized that Washington has no reason to use nuclear weapons.

“They have been completely defeated militarily. Yet now I have to use nuclear weapons on them? What a stupid question,” he said.

The US President once threatened to “destroy Iran’s civilization”, but never announced to do so with nuclear weapons.

The Oval Office dialogue took place after the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on August 30 that its forces had attacked two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island located near the Strait of Hormuz. The targets were attacked when the US discovered that Iranian soldiers were preparing to launch rockets carrying mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard announced that it had launched ballistic missiles and UAVs at bases housing US forces in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in response.

This is the first direct attack between the US and Iran since late July.

Axios Citing sources, CENTCOM expressed concern that Iran is actively seeking to restore radar and missile capabilities near the Strait of Hormuz. The fact that a missile was recently launched at a US F-35 fighter, which was escorting ships through the strait, made Washington even more wary.

Sources told Axios that the missile did not fly close enough to threaten US aircraft, but showed that Iran was restoring its military capabilities in the area, possibly forcing the US to resume air strikes.

President Trump on August 31 announced that the US “will take action” to Iran’s attacks. “We will deal them a painful blow,” he said.

Iran announced that the IRGC downed a US UAV over the Hormuz area on the same evening. At the same time, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Command also reiterated its warning to neighboring countries not to allow the US to use their territory to carry out attacks against Iran.

Tehran has repeatedly stated that it will only allow the resumption of maritime activities through the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for about 20% of global oil and gas supply, if Washington implements the terms of the agreement the two sides signed in June.

President Masoud Pezeshkian affirmed on September 1 that “if the US returns to implementing the memorandum’s commitments, Iran will immediately take corresponding actions.”