Conservative American commentator Tucker Carlson claimed early Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressuring US President Donald Trump to launch a nuclear strike on Iran, alleging that the Israeli leader's efforts are driven by his struggle to remain in power following last week's elections.
In a lengthy post on X, Carlson wrote: "Netanyahu is cornered and desperate." He added: "Netanyahu must stay close to Trump. He needs this war."
American commentator Tucker Carlson and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: Debbie Hill/Pool/AFP; Ross D. Franklin/AP)
"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 identified the alleged target as Pickax Mountain in central Iran, where he said Israeli intelligence believes Tehran has resumed uranium enrichment.
Carlson claimed that no conventional weapon in the American arsenal could penetrate the roughly 300 feet of granite protecting the underground tunnels where enrichment was allegedly taking place. "The only military option is a nuclear strike," he asserted, adding that Netanyahu had been pushing hard for such an attack.
Carlson provided no independently verifiable evidence to support his allegations, and neither Washington nor Jerusalem has confirmed that a nuclear strike is being considered. In an October 16 interview with Newsmax, Trump explicitly ruled out using nuclear weapons against Iran, saying: "I wouldn't use nuclear. We don't have to."
Turning to Netanyahu's political situation, Carlson claimed the prime minister could not form a government following last week's election unless Trump intervened directly in Israeli politics and helped broker an agreement with other parties to secure a 61-seat Knesset majority. Otherwise, Carlson argued, Netanyahu would lose the premiership and potentially face investigations and imprisonment.
Carlson cited an unnamed "informed observer" who claimed: "Bibi calls Trump about it every day." He further alleged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US Central Command chief Brad Cooper oppose a negotiated settlement with Iran and are pushing for renewed large-scale military operations. He also claimed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe were following Netanyahu's lead.
The commentator warned that America's longtime Middle Eastern allies fear further escalation. He claimed that Netanyahu had secretly traveled to Abu Dhabi on September 27 to seek the United Arab Emirates' support for an attack on Iran but had been rebuffed.
Carlson argued that months of fighting had already severely damaged Gulf economies and global energy markets, partly because of attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. A nuclear strike on Pickax Mountain, he warned, could spread radioactive fallout across the Persian Gulf, threatening water supplies for approximately 100 million people.
He also warned that American use of nuclear weapons could establish a precedent for other nuclear powers, potentially encouraging Russia, Pakistan, India and North Korea to consider similar attacks. "After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable," he wrote.
Carlson claimed that Trump could decide by November 7 whether to authorize a nuclear strike, but said the president was hesitating. According to Carlson, Vice President JD Vance and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff are arguing that a diplomatic agreement with Iran remains possible.
He concluded by calling on the international community to speak out against the possibility of nuclear escalation, warning of catastrophic consequences if the conflict expanded.