U.S. President Donald Trump said he may order a military strike on Iran's Kuh-e Kolang nuclear site to keep Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, according to finance.sina.com.cn. The site sits in Isfahan province in central Iran, close to the Natanz nuclear facility, and is described as one of the country's most heavily fortified underground installations.
Trump has raised the threat of hitting the underground site repeatedly. Iran has pushed back, saying the Kuh-e Kolang facility is empty and that any American attack on it would fail.
Asked whether he had authorized the use of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb — the large non-nuclear weapon known as the "mother of all bombs" — against Iranian energy and nuclear infrastructure, Trump did not give a direct answer. He did stress that the weapon is not a nuclear device.
Separately, Trump said the United States would not use nuclear weapons against Iran, and reports say he has not ruled out the "mother of all bombs" in the future while stating he would not send ground troops.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran has no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons and called the damaging propaganda aimed at his country untrue. He added that Iran remains open to dialogue and will not surrender to force.
The standoff appears deadlocked, with neither side making decisive gains. A key question remains whether Trump will act militarily before November's midterm elections rather than after them.
Watch for any formal U.S. order on the strike, and for whether Washington and Tehran return to talks.
