CNN reported on 15 October, citing US officials, that the military has drawn up plans to use the GBU-43/B MOAB against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites if Trump approves.
In a Newsmax interview published on 15 October, Trump said the MOAB 'is not nuclear' and that he would not use nuclear weapons, but he declined to say whether he had authorised its use in Iran.
Trump said the US might strike Iran's nuclear sites again, particularly Pickaxe Mountain, where Tehran is believed to hide a nuclear facility under layers of granite.
A source told CNN the MOAB is suited to clearing large areas rather than deep penetration, and experts warned of enormous civilian casualties if populated areas were hit.
ANSA reports that tankers continue to be hit in the Strait of Hormuz and that two container ships sank in the 24 hours before its 15 October report.
US officials familiar with the designs told CNN that the military has drawn up plans to hit Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites with the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, known as the MOAB or 'mother of all bombs', should Donald Trump give the green light. CNN published the report on 15 October, and CBS News cited similar planning at the Pentagon and White House. One source told CNN that Trump has ordered additional strike packages that include a lot of energy infrastructure and could foreseeably involve the MOAB. Another said the options include striking nuclear sites, among them the so-called Pickaxe Mountain. The White House declined to comment on the plans, saying Trump keeps all options open so that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.
In an interview with Newsmax published on 15 October, Trump ruled out nuclear weapons against Iran but did not rule out the MOAB. Asked whether the bomb was a tactical nuclear weapon, he said it was not.
“It's not nuclear at all. This is just an extremely large bomb.”
Trump also said 'I wouldn't use nuclear' and argued that the US is the greatest nuclear power in the world. He told the network the US might strike Iran's nuclear sites again and declined to say whether he had authorised using the MOAB. Trump added that the war would end 'very soon', whether by force or diplomacy, and that oil prices would then fall.
The MOAB was first used in combat on 13 April 2017, when US forces struck an ISIS tunnel complex in Afghanistan. Reports of the death toll differ: ANSA says about 40 militants were killed, SIC says around 100, and ABC puts it above 90. ANSA reports the bomb is set to detonate a couple of metres above the ground so that the impact does not absorb the blast. A source told CNN the weapon is suited to clearing large areas but not much more, and is not designed as a deep-penetration warhead. Experts cited by CNN warned that civilian casualties could be enormous if populated areas were hit.
Trump told Newsmax the US might strike Iran's nuclear sites again, particularly Pickaxe Mountain, where Tehran is believed to hide a nuclear facility under layers of granite. Spanish outlets refer to the same site as Mount Kolang, and accusations against it concern whether it hosts part of Iran's nuclear program. In 2025 the US struck the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan underground facilities with GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs, but a Defense Intelligence Agency report soon after assessed that the strikes had set back operations only by months. Meanwhile ANSA reports that tankers continue to be hit in the Strait of Hormuz, most recently in the Gulf of Oman, and that two container ships sank in the 24 hours before its 15 October report.
Trump's popularity is waning at home ahead of the 3 November midterm elections, according to the Irish Independent, and polls cited by ABC show the unpopular war and higher fuel prices hurting the Republican Party. Diplomatic efforts have been stalled since summer, after a June interim agreement collapsed. Trump posted on social media in early October that the US would not attack Iran before the midterms, but Al Jazeera says his Newsmax comments appeared to confirm speculation that another phase of the war is imminent, likely after the vote. SIC reports that Trump is also under pressure from Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel holds elections on 27 October.
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Trump told Newsmax the MOAB 'is not nuclear' and ruled out nuclear weapons on Iran, while CNN reports that US military plans would use the bomb against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites.
AI text based on reports by Al Jazeera Online, europa press, Irish Independent and other publishers. Changed .