The Pentagon believes the US needs to drop a nuclear bomb to destroy Iran's Fordow facility.

Washington - Saeed Erekat

The Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency has told US officials that the US may need to drop a nuclear weapon to destroy Iran's underground Fordow nuclear facility, according to The Guardian.

According to the report, Pentagon officials briefed were informed that dropping conventional 30,000-pound GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs would not penetrate deep enough and would only cause enough damage to destroy the tunnels and bury the facility under rubble.

The conventional GBU-57 bunker-buster (which weighs 30,000 pounds) has not yet been tested, but similar bombs, the BLU-82B/C-130, have been used in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

Officials were told that to completely destroy Fordow, the United States would likely need to first soften the ground with conventional bombs, then drop a tactical nuclear weapon from a B2 bomber.

The report indicated that President Trump is not considering using a nuclear weapon, and that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has not been offered this option. According to a report from Axios, Trump is skeptical that GBU-57 bombs could cause enough damage to destroy the facility.

Israel wants the United States to drop bunker-buster bombs on Fordo because it lacks the capability, but so far, Trump has not ordered US airstrikes on Iran. President Trump said on Thursday that he would decide within two weeks, although there are indications that attacks could begin as early as this weekend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the war and attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities over allegations that Iran was seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon. However, this contradicted both US intelligence and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which said there was no evidence that Tehran had decided to pursue a nuclear bomb.

It's worth noting that US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggested to President Trump the use of a nuclear bomb against Iran, urging him to listen to the heavens and follow their guidance when making decisions regarding Israel's war on Iran.

In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump shared a screenshot of a long text he said was sent to him by Huckabee, an evangelical and Christian Zionist whom Trump calls a "great person!"

In the text, Huckabee says that Trump's current decision about whether to involve the United States in attacks on Iran is similar to the decision President Harry Truman faced in 1945—when Truman dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Japan and destroying two cities. Huckabee also says he is not seeking to persuade Trump, but rather to "encourage him." He writes, "God saved you in Butler, Pennsylvania, to be the most consequential president in a century—and perhaps ever." He adds, "No president in my lifetime has been in such a situation. Not since Truman in 1945."

This lengthy letter was particularly ironic, given that Huckabee was suggesting that Trump use a nuclear bomb against Iran in a war initiated by Israel to target Iran's nuclear weapons program, even though most of the targets and victims so far appear to have been civilians.