According to Reuters, on October 15th, local time, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that in order to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the United States may have to attack the "Gaoshan" facilities related to Iran's nuclear program.
On the evening of the 15th local time, Trump told the Newsmax news website that the United States must ensure that Iran “never acquires nuclear weapons,” “because if they do, they will use them.”
He stated: “Iran’s nuclear facilities are buried deep beneath millions of tons of rock. Now we have targeted ‘Bao Mountain’. We may have to take action there, launch attacks, and quickly destroy it.”
"Gaoshan" is located near the Natanz nuclear facility in Isfahan province in central Iran and is considered one of the most secure underground nuclear facilities in Iran.
Trump said that there is no need to use nuclear weapons in fighting against Iran, and he did not consider sending ground troops to Iran. "I will not use nuclear weapons; there is no need to do so."
When asked whether authorization would be granted to use the GBU-43/B large airburst bomb (commonly known as "Mother Bomb) against Iran's energy infrastructure and nuclear facilities, Trump did not give a clear answer regarding authorization. However, he made it clear that the Mother Bomb is not a nuclear weapon.
In July this year, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Israeli intelligence agencies believe that after the United States targeted three Iranian nuclear facilities in June last year, Iran transferred thousands of uranium enrichment centrifuges to a underground “Gaoshan” facility last autumn.
Reports suggest that it is still unclear whether Iran is transferring the centrifuges to “Gaoshan” in order to build uranium enrichment facilities, or simply to protect the existing equipment from destruction.
