Srinagar, Nov 02: US political commentator Tucker Carlson has claimed that President Donald Trump could be days away from authorising a nuclear strike on Iran, alleging that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressuring the US administration to launch an attack on an underground nuclear facility at Pickaxe Mountain in central Iran.
In a lengthy post on X, Carlson claimed that Netanyahu wants the US to target the facility, where Israeli intelligence allegedly believes Iran has restarted its uranium enrichment programme.
“Under pressure from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran,” Carlson wrote.
He argued that the facility, believed to be buried beneath approximately 300 feet of solid granite, could not be destroyed using conventional American weapons, leaving a nuclear strike as the only military option.
Claiming that Netanyahu has been lobbying Trump personally, Carlson quoted an unnamed source as saying: “Bibi calls Trump about it every day.”
Carlson also suggested that Netanyahu’s domestic political difficulties were driving his push for continued military action against Iran. He claimed that the Israeli prime minister was struggling to secure the 61 seats needed to form a government and could face investigations and possible imprisonment if he loses power.
He further alleged that Netanyahu had sought support from the United Arab Emirates during a secret visit to Abu Dhabi on September 27, but that the Emiratis had refused to join the lobbying effort.
Warning of the wider consequences of a nuclear attack, Carlson said fallout from a ground-level nuclear explosion at Pickaxe Mountain could contaminate the Persian Gulf and threaten the water supply of around 100 million people.
He also warned that an American nuclear strike could establish a dangerous international precedent, potentially encouraging other nuclear-armed countries, including Russia, Pakistan, India and North Korea, to consider using nuclear weapons.
“After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final,” he wrote.
Carlson claimed that Trump was likely to decide by November 7 whether to use nuclear weapons against Iran. However, he said the US president was still weighing diplomatic options, with Vice-President JD Vance and US envoy Steve Witkoff favouring a negotiated settlement.
“They’re right, though it won’t be simple,” Carlson wrote, adding that despite growing radicalisation within parts of the Iranian leadership, there was a consensus among decision-makers in Tehran that further war would be damaging to all sides.
His warning comes amid reports that Washington is considering renewed military action against Iran following the November 3 US midterm elections. The Associated Press reported that US officials had privately urged Middle Eastern countries and regional allies to prepare for possible renewed strikes and Iranian retaliation. However, the report did not indicate that nuclear weapons were being considered.
Carlson did not provide documentary evidence to substantiate his claims that Netanyahu was lobbying for a nuclear strike or that Trump was actively considering authorising one. The allegations should therefore be treated as unverified.
Carlson criticised the absence of public consultation over the prospect of nuclear escalation, writing: “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. Now would be the time for them to speak up.”
