Iran-US war latest: Trump rules out using a nuclear weapon as he warns Tehran might be rearming

President Donald Trump has dismissed the idea that he would use a nuclear weapon on Iran.

Asked by reporters whether he would, he said: “No. Why do I need it? Why would a stupid question like that be asked? Why would I? Why would I use a nuclear weapon?

“We’ve totally, in a very conventional way, decimated them without it.

“No, I wouldn’t use it. A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody.”

US president Donald Trump has said if Iran does not want to make a deal, he will finish the war by force.

“If they don’t want to make a deal, then I’ll finish it up militarily with the other 25% of the targets,” he said in the White House.

“We’ve had 78% of the targets that we’ve wanted to hit. We’ve knocked out their manufacturing, we’ve knocked out their missile production, we’ve knocked out their drone production.

“We’ve knocked out everything. In some cases, when I say knock it out, 70, 80, 90% – it’s amazing what we’ve done.”

Iran ​may ⁠have loaded ⁠up ​their weaponry “a ⁠little bit” ‌during the two-week ‌ceasefire, he said, but ‌added that the ⁠US military can knock that out in about ‌one ​day.

Military planners from countries seeking to join a UK and France-led mission to keep the Strait of Hormuz open once the Iran war ends have held “constructive” talks in London.

More than 40 nations sent planners to the two-day conference at the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood, northwest London.

They had aimed to build on talks held by Sir Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris last week, and agree a defensive plan that would restore confidence for commercial shipping.

Defence secretary John Healey told attendees that “millions of people” were relying on them to succeed because of the importance of the strait.

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with only three vessels passing the waterway in the past 24 hours, shipping data showed.

More than a dozen tankers passed through the Strait after Iran briefly declared it open on Friday. But a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran appeared in jeopardy on Tuesday as Iran vowed to retaliate for the U.S. seizure of one of its vessels and refused to join new peace talks.

The Pope has urged the US and Iran to return to peace talks.

He also firmly condemned the killing ​of protesters in Iran, after US president Donald Trump criticised him last week for not doing so while speaking out against the US-Israel war with Iran.

Leo also decried the deaths of “so many” civilians in the war and lamented the ⁠collapse of n peace talks.

“I condemn all actions that are unjust. I condemn the taking of people’s lives,” the Pope said when asked about reports that Iran had killed thousands of protesters.

Leo was attacked by Trump on social media as “terrible” on 12 April, after the Pope emerged as an ⁠outspoken critic of the war and the president’s hardline anti-immigration policies.

Amal Khalil, who worked for Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar, was killed in the village of al-Tayri while covering Israel’s bombing of southern Lebanon on Wednesday.

Maira Butt and Bel Trew report:

The US was due to host a second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, with Lebanon seeking an extension ‌of a ceasefire reached last week in a war that has run in parallel to the Iran war.

Israeli strikes killed five people including a journalist in Lebanon on Wednesday, the deadliest ​day there since the US-brokered truce took effect.

Iran says maintaining the Lebanon ceasefire is a pre-condition for talks on the wider war.

Pakistan, which hosted talks this month and had been preparing for a second round before it was called off on Tuesday, was still in touch with both sides, a Pakistani government source said.

Iranian officials were still declining to commit to attend over the U.S. blockade, the source added.

Talal Chaudhry, a junior interior minister, told Reuters security plans for talks were still in place and Pakistan was “fully prepared to host an event of this scale with confidence”.