Asked Monday about whether he had ruled out the use of nuclear weapons against Iran, President Trump gave an unusually direct answer. “Well, I would never say that, but the answer is yes,” he said, “I rule that, I rule out, no use.” He added that there “was no reason for it,” given the success of U.S. strikes: “Here [the Iranians] are, they’re totally defeated militarily. So now I defeat them, and now I should use a nuclear weapon on top of them? What a stupid question.” 

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The president also suggested a return to full-scale combat operations was unlikely, even after the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes Sunday. “This is a relatively little war for us. This is not a big war,” he said. Trump described Iran as a “failed nation,” while also noting “that doesn't mean we won't smack them.”

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a bloc of ten Eurasian countries including China, Russia, India, and Iran, kicked off its annual summit Monday. The group issued a statement condemning “military strikes on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” saying these “violate the principles and norms of international law and the UN Charter and create serious risks to international peace, security and stability.” In a meeting on the summit’s sidelines, Russian president Vladimir Putin reportedly told Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian that Russia stood in solidarity with Iran, and affirmed the importance of the two countries’ diplomatic and economic ties. Pezeshkian thanked the Russian leader for his position on the war.

Oil prices, which rose on news of U.S. and Iranian strikes over the weekend, remained elevated, with Brent crude trading at around $90 per barrel Tuesday morning. AAA reported a national average gas price of $4.10 per gallon.