President Trump’s Implied Threat of Nuclear Annihilation Increases Global Risks of Nuclear Proliferation

"President Trump's statement to the United Nations clearly constitutes an implied threat to use overwhelming nuclear force against Iran and the Iranian people broadly. This would be a nuclear genocide. Any threat to use nuclear weapons is unacceptable, and his decision to do so should be strongly condemned by government, military and civil society leaders.

"Though it may be tempting to write this off as just another bombastic speech, the public must read President Trump's words, and consider their true meaning and the real human impacts of nuclear war. Such threats are dangerous and will have lasting real-world consequences for us all.

"In particular, President Trump's nuclear threats against Iran reinforce a counterproductive lesson also imparted by President Vladimir Putin's nuclear threats against Ukraine. Specifically, these threats encourage other countries to conclude that protecting and securing themselves from authoritarians with nuclear weapons requires obtaining their own nuclear arsenal. Making these threats in front of the U.N. General Assembly, a body dedicated to discussing problems and using diplomacy to overcome them, is a statement in and of itself about power and control."