President Donald Trump flatly ruled out using nuclear weapons against Iran on Thursday, even as the Pentagon reportedly weighs a devastating new strike plan that could include the notorious "Mother of All Bombs" against the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities.
Speaking to Newsmax about the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, or MOAB, Trump was blunt: "The mother of all bombs is not nuclear."
"This is just an extremely large bomb," the president said. "It's like a tiny nuclear bomb, but the mother of all bombs is one big bomb, but it's not nuclear."
"I wouldn't use nuclear. We don't have to," Trump added.
Pentagon's Plan: Strike Before Or After Midterms
The reports, which cited multiple U.S. officials, suggested the strikes could be carried out either before or after the Nov. 3 midterm elections, injecting a volatile new variable into an already combustible political season.
The MOAB, first used in combat in Afghanistan in 2017, is the most powerful conventional bomb in the American arsenal. Weighing nearly 22,000 pounds, it is designed to destroy deeply buried tunnel complexes and fortified bunkers, the kind of structures that house Iran's most sensitive nuclear work.
The prospect of such a strike comes as the U.S.-Iran war, which began with a joint American-Israeli assault on Feb. 28, enters its eighth month with no end in sight.
'Leave The Region Or We'll Expel You'
Iran's military drew its own red line on Friday. Army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia declared that the Strait of Hormuz would only reopen if the United States pulls its forces out of the Middle East entirely.
"If America leaves the region, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen and collective security will be established with the participation of the region's countries, and the global economy will improve," Akraminia wrote on X.
"If it doesn't leave, we'll expel it," he added.
Akraminia also claimed, despite Trump's repeated assertions to the contrary, that Iran's air defense capabilities "far surpass pre-war and wartime levels," according to Iran's Mehr News Agency.
Trump, for his part, has been merciless in characterizing Iran's military as a spent force. At a midterm campaign rally in Montana on Wednesday, he declared that Iran is no longer "the bully of the Middle East."
"They don't have a Navy; they don't have an air force; their army is decimated; their leaders are gone," Trump told supporters. "I should have probably left the leaders because I don't know who we're negotiating with. They had their first-string leaders are all gone. Their second-string leaders are all gone. Half of their third-string leaders are gone. And now their main thing that they ask in negotiation is, 'Will you please allow us to live?'"
"This is all they do," the president added. "They don't want us to go after them."
Israel Eliminates October 7 Mastermind
Even as the Iran crisis dominates headlines, Israel is pressing its own fight. The Israel Defense Forces announced Friday that it killed Maher Walid Omar al-Husseini, a Nukhba cell commander in Hamas' military wing who infiltrated the Re'im Base during the October 7 Massacre.
"Recently, he advanced attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops and attempted to restore Hamas' capabilities, in systematic violation of the ceasefire," the IDF said in a statement. "The terrorist was eliminated in order to remove the threat he posed."
Saudi Arabia Under Fire
The violence is spreading across the region. Saudi Arabia's coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki announced Friday that multiple missiles and drones fired toward Riyadh, Yanbu and the Red Sea were intercepted, underscoring how the Iran conflict has drawn in U.S. allies and partners across the Gulf.
Houthi militants, backed by Tehran, have repeatedly targeted Saudi infrastructure since the war began, stretching air defenses thin and raising fears of a wider regional conflagration.
Oil Hits $110, Gasoline At $4.32
The economic fallout is hitting American wallets hard. Brent crude oil surged past $110 per barrel on Friday for the first time in five months, as Iran escalated attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and Ukraine vowed to keep striking Russian refineries.
WTI has added more than 10 percent this week alone, while Brent advanced nearly 5 percent. Regular gasoline now averages $4.32 per gallon nationwide, a punishing number for a White House staring down midterm elections in less than three weeks.
Crude exports through Hormuz have pulled back after touching prewar levels in September, and the fuel cost an average of $6.33 a gallon in some parts of the country.
Trump has acknowledged that the oil prices spiked because of the Iran war and conceded they likely won't come down soon, a stark admission from a president who has staked his political brand on energy dominance.
The Stakes For November
With the Nov. 3 midterms looming, the convergence of war, surging gas prices and a potential escalation to a "Mother of All Bombs" strike has created a powder-keg political environment. Republicans are betting that Trump's hawkish posture on Iran will rally the base, while Democrats are hammering the administration over the cost of living and the open-ended nature of a conflict that shows no sign of resolution.
For now, the president is drawing one bright line: no nukes. Everything else, it seems, is on the table.
