Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 20, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Russia warns of catastrophic consequences if the US uses tactical nuclear weapons in Iran, amid speculative media reports. Trump not considering nuclear options currently.
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Potential use of tactical nuclear weapons by the United States in Iran would be a catastrophic development, Russian state news agency TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Friday.
Peskov was commenting on what he called speculative media reports about that possibility. His comments, as reported by TASS, did not mention any media by name.
The Guardian newspaper reported that U.S. defence officials were briefed that using conventional bombs against Iran's underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordow would not be enough to destroy it completely, and that destroying it would require initial attacks with conventional bombs and then dropping a tactical nuclear weapon from a B-2 bomber.
However, the British newspaper said President Donald Trump was not considering using a tactical nuclear weapon on Fordow and the possibility was not presented by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, in meetings in the White House Situation Room.
Trump said on Thursday that any decision on potential U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict would be made within two weeks.
Russia, which has close ties with Iran, has warned strongly against U.S. military intervention on the side of Israel.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by William Mallard)
Dmitry Peskov warned that the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons by the US in Iran would be a catastrophic development.
The Guardian reported that US defense officials were briefed that conventional bombs would not be sufficient to destroy Iran's underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordow.
According to the Guardian, President Trump was not considering using a tactical nuclear weapon on Fordow, and this possibility was not presented by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump stated that any decision regarding potential US involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict would be made within two weeks.
Russia has strongly warned against US military intervention on the side of Israel, emphasizing its close ties with Iran.
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