Trump puts on the table the use of 'the mother of all bombs' in the event of a new attack against Iran

rss · La Tercera 2026-10-16T08:49:14Z es
US President Donald Trump has stated that Washington is weighing the use of the GBU-43/B bomb —colloquially known as the MOAB, "the mother of all bombs"— against Iran, and has reiterated that the war with Iran "is going to end very soon, one way or another," amid a lack of progress in recent months in talks to end the conflict in the Middle East. "The 'mother of all bombs' is not (a nuclear bomb)," Trump said in an interview with Newsmax, when asked whether he is weighing the use of this weapon after the November 3 midterms to attack nuclear facilities in Iran. "It's not nuclear at all, it's just an extremely large bomb," he explained, stressing that Washington "does not have to" use nuclear weapons against Iran. "It's like a small nuclear bomb. The MOAB is a big bomb, but it's not nuclear," he said, without specifying whether he has authorized its use or a potential target for the attack. However, he insisted that the Iranian nuclear program "is buried under millions of tons of mountain" following the offensives of June 2025 and February 2026 alongside Israel. In this regard, he emphasized that the United States is closely monitoring the situation at Kolang Mountain —also known as Pickaxe— amid accusations about the possibility that it may host part of Iran's nuclear program. "We're looking at Pic…
US President Donald Trump has stated that Washington is weighing the use of the GBU-43/B bomb—colloquially known as the MOAB, "the mother of all bombs"—against Iran, and has reiterated that the war with Iran "is going to end very soon, one way or the other," amid a lack of progress in recent months in talks to end the conflict in the Middle East. "The 'mother of all bombs' is not (a nuclear bomb)," Trump said in an interview with Newsmax, when asked whether he is considering using this weapon after the November 3 midterms to strike nuclear facilities in Iran. "It's not nuclear at all, it's just an extremely large bomb," he explained, emphasizing that Washington "doesn't have to" use nuclear weapons against Iran. "It's like a small nuclear bomb. The MOAB is a big bomb, but it's not nuclear," he said, without specifying whether he has authorized its use or a potential target for the attack. However, he insisted that the Iranian nuclear program "is buried under millions of tons of mountain" following the offensives of June 2025 and February 2026 alongside Israel. In this regard, he stressed that the United States is closely monitoring the situation at Kolang Mountain—also known as Pickaxe—amid accusations that it may be hosting part of Iran's nuclear program. "We're looking at Pickaxe. We might have to go there. We'll hit it and finish it off quickly," he emphasized. The occupant of the White House also used the interview to stress that the conflict "is going to end very soon, one way or the other," adding that Iranian authorities "are negotiating," after boasting that the latest offensive killed numerous senior Iranian officials of "the first, second, and even third tier." Trump's remarks came after sources cited by the US television network CNN indicated that the US Armed Forces had drawn up attack plans that include the possible use of the MOAB to strike Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear facilities in the event of a resumption of the offensive. The GBU-43/B is the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal, weighing approximately 9,800 kilograms, although it lacks deep-penetration capabilities, so it is considered capable of causing devastating damage, but primarily at the surface level. This bomb was used for the first time in combat in April 2017, during Trump's first term, in a bombing against targets of the jihadist group Islamic State in the Afghan province of Nangarhar (east), leaving nearly a hundred dead, including four senior commanders of the organization.

Translated from es by z-ai/glm-5.3-flash

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