Tucker Carlson claims Netanyahu is pressing Trump towards a nuclear strike on Iran, warning of potentially catastrophic consequences.
American conservative political commentator and broadcaster Tucker Carlson has warned that US President Donald Trump could launch a nuclear strike against Iran within days, alleging that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressuring the administration to resume military operations.
In a lengthy statement posted on X on Monday, Carlson claimed the potential target was Pickax Mountain in central Iran, where Israeli intelligence allegedly believes Tehran has restarted its nuclear enrichment programme.
Carlson argued that conventional American weapons could not penetrate the underground facility, leaving nuclear weapons as the only military option.
“No conventional weapon in the American arsenal can penetrate 300 feet of solid granite to destroy the tunnels where enrichment is supposedly taking place. The only military option is a nuclear strike,” Carlson wrote.
He added that Netanyahu had been pushing for such an attack, citing an unnamed source who allegedly said: “Bibi calls Trump about it every day.”
Carlson also alleged that Netanyahu’s political survival was a major factor behind his push for renewed military action against Iran.
According to the commentator, Netanyahu cannot form a government following last week’s election results without Trump’s direct intervention and assistance in securing support from other political parties.
He claimed the Israeli prime minister could otherwise lose power and face investigations and possible imprisonment.
“Netanyahu must stay close to Trump. He needs this war,” Carlson wrote.
The commentator further alleged that Netanyahu had pressured senior American officials, including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper, to support renewed military operations.
Carlson claimed both officials opposed a negotiated settlement and were pushing to restart major combat operations.
He also accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA director John Ratcliffe of following Netanyahu’s position.
Carlson alleged that former US president Barack Obama had also opposed the Iran peace agreement being drafted in Doha during a recent meeting.
However, the claims about the officials’ positions and the alleged pressure campaign were not independently verified.
Carlson said other American allies in the Middle East were concerned about the prospect of renewed conflict, particularly its potential consequences for regional economies and global energy markets.
He claimed Netanyahu secretly travelled to Abu Dhabi on September 27 to enlist the United Arab Emirates in lobbying for another attack on Iran, but that the Emiratis refused.
According to Carlson, eight months of conflict had already placed Gulf economies under severe pressure and disrupted global energy and fertiliser markets.
He also warned that further attacks could damage oil transportation infrastructure and worsen the economic consequences of the conflict.
Carlson claimed 11 of the approximately 850 supertankers used to transport oil globally had been badly damaged in the Strait of Hormuz during October.
He warned that continued damage could trigger a global depression, arguing that a nuclear strike would accelerate the destruction.
Carlson also raised concerns about the potential environmental consequences of a nuclear explosion at Pickax Mountain.
“Fallout from a ground explosion at Pickax Mountain would contaminate the Persian Gulf, poisoning the water supply for 100 million people,” he wrote.
The commentator further warned that an American nuclear strike against Iran could establish a dangerous precedent for other countries.
He claimed Russia had already told at least two governments that an American nuclear attack on Iran would give them grounds to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
Carlson also warned that India and Pakistan could be tempted to use nuclear weapons against each other, while North Korea could target Seoul.
“After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final,” he wrote.
Carlson alleged that the Trump administration had quietly rewritten America’s nuclear doctrine since February to make the first use of battlefield nuclear weapons easier.
He criticised what he described as a lack of concern in Washington across both political parties over the potential consequences.
The commentator also claimed Trump could decide by November 7 whether to use nuclear weapons against Iran.
He said the president was currently listening to Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff, who believed a negotiated agreement with Tehran remained possible.
“They’re right, though it won’t be simple,” Carlson wrote.
He acknowledged that negotiations with Iran could prove difficult, citing decades of isolation and what he described as growing radicalisation within elements of the Iranian government following the reported deaths of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family in February.
However, Carlson claimed people who had spoken with Iranian decision-makers believed there was agreement that continued fighting would harm all parties and that a negotiated settlement was worth pursuing.
He concluded by arguing that the global population had not been consulted about the consequences of a potential nuclear strike.
“One group that hasn’t been consulted so far is the global population — the hundreds of millions of people who will be killed along with their children if Trump is pushed by Netanyahu into launching a nuclear strike next week,” Carlson wrote.
