The conservative commentator claims Benjamin Netanyahu is pressuring the White House to consider nuclear weapons against an Iranian facility, as diplomatic efforts continue in Doha.
Conservative American commentator Tucker Carlson has issued an extraordinary warning that U.S. President Donald Trump could be days away from authorising a nuclear strike against Iran, alleging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is lobbying Washington to escalate the conflict.
In a lengthy post on X, Carlson claimed the Trump administration was considering an attack on a heavily fortified Iranian nuclear facility known as Pickax Mountain, where Israeli intelligence reportedly believes uranium enrichment activities have resumed.
Carlson alleged the facility was protected by approximately 300 feet of solid granite, making it impossible for conventional American weapons to destroy its underground infrastructure.
He claimed Netanyahu was pushing Trump to consider nuclear weapons as a result.
The allegations have not been independently verified, and there has been no public confirmation that the White House is preparing or considering a nuclear strike.
Under pressure from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran. The target would be Pickax Mountain in central Iran, where Israeli intelligence claims the Iranian government has restarted its nuclear enrichment program. 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. Netanyahu has been pushing hard for one. “Bibi calls Trump about it every day,” says an informed observer.
Netanyahu is cornered and desperate. After last week’s election results, he can’t form a government unless Trump intervenes directly in Israeli politics and brokers a deal with other parties that gives Netanyahu 61 seats in the Knesset. Otherwise, he is out as prime minister and on his way to ignominy, investigations and possibly jail. Netanyahu must stay close to Trump. He needs this war.
To that end, he’s applied maximum pressure to his closest allies in the administration, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper. Both oppose a negotiated settlement to the war they’ve so grievously mismanaged; both are pushing to restart major combat operations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA director John Ratcliffe are also following Netanyahu’s lead, as are leaders of the Democratic Party. In a recent meeting on the subject, former president Barack Obama said he opposes the current Iran peace deal being drafted in Doha.
The rest of America’s longtime allies in the Middle East are terrified by the prospect of more war. On September 27th, Netanyahu flew secretly to Abu Dhabi to enlist the UAE in his lobbying effort for a final attack on Iran. The Emiratis refused. After eight months of conflict, Gulf economies are teetering. So are global energy and fertilizer markets. They won’t recover soon. Globally, there are a total of about 850 supertankers used to transport oil from producers to the rest of the world. In October alone, 11 of them were badly damaged in Hormuz. At this pace, a global depression is imminent. A nuclear strike would radically accelerate the destruction. Fallout from a ground explosion at Pickax Mountain would contaminate the Persian Gulf, poisoning the water supply for 100 million people.
And those are just some of the immediate consequences for the region. The rest of the world is every bit as exposed. No country other than the United States has ever used a nuclear weapon in war. Some would like to. An American nuclear attack on Iran would set a new precedent. The Russians have already told at least two other governments that an American nuclear strike on Iran would free them to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine. Pakistan and India would be tempted to do the same against each other, as would North Korea against Seoul. After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final.
We’ve been sleepwalking toward this moment for months. Since February, the administration has quietly rewritten America’s nuclear doctrine to make first use of so-called “battlefield nukes” easier and therefore more likely. No one in Washington in either party seems bothered by this. Now we’re on the brink of it.
Close observers say Trump is likely to decide by next weekend whether or not to use nuclear weapons. That would be November 7, six days from now. To his credit, he’s hesitating. At the moment, Trump is listening to his vice president, JD Vance, and to his envoy and friend Steve Witkoff, both of whom argue a deal with Iran can be made.
They’re right, though it won’t be simple. The Iranians are famously frustrating to negotiate with under any circumstances, and elements of that government have become more radical since Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family were killed in February. After decades of isolation, even relatively moderate Iranian leaders seem confused by how decisions are made in the West. (There is a widespread belief in Tehran, for example, that the United States government controls Israel.) But overall, people who have spoken to decision-makers in Iran say there is consensus there that more war is bad for everyone and a deal is worth making.
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.
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) November 2, 2026
Pressure from Netanyahu
Carlson claimed Netanyahu was personally lobbying Trump to authorise military action, citing an unnamed observer who alleged the Israeli leader was contacting the president daily.
The commentator also suggested Netanyahu’s political difficulties following recent Israeli election results were influencing his approach to the conflict.
Carlson alleged that senior administration figures, including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and U.S. Central Command chief Brad Cooper, were supporting renewed military operations.
He contrasted their reported positions with those of Vice President JD Vance and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, whom he described as favouring continued negotiations.
These claims about private administration discussions and individual officials’ positions have not been independently substantiated.
Carlson suggested Trump could make a decision by November 7, although he provided no documentary evidence establishing that deadline.
Nuclear escalation
The former Fox News host warned that an American nuclear attack could trigger devastating consequences across the Middle East and potentially encourage other nuclear-armed countries to use their weapons.
Carlson argued that radioactive contamination from an underground nuclear explosion could threaten water supplies across the Persian Gulf.
He also claimed Russia had privately indicated that an American nuclear strike against Iran could change its calculations regarding nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Neither claim has been independently confirmed.
Carlson further warned that a nuclear strike could accelerate instability in global energy markets, already affected by months of regional conflict and disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
His predictions of a wider nuclear war represent his assessment of the risks rather than an established outcome.
Diplomatic talks
The warning comes amid reports that Netanyahu is pressing Trump to resume military action against Iran following the U.S. midterm elections.
According to reporting attributed to Axios, Washington and Tehran remain divided over the conditions required to restart negotiations.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz or enter formal negotiations until Washington met seven conditions.
Those demands reportedly include lifting the U.S. naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian funds and allowing Iranian oil exports to resume.
Qatari mediators have been facilitating discussions between the two countries, with Iranian and Qatari officials holding extensive talks in Tehran and Doha.
Rubio said over the weekend that Trump had not decided whether to resume military operations and that Washington remained open to diplomacy.
Meanwhile, reports from The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post indicate Vance has approached Rezaei about a possible negotiated settlement.
Central obstacle
Iran’s nuclear programme remains at the centre of the dispute.
Washington is seeking guarantees that Tehran will not develop nuclear weapons, while Iranian officials insist the country retains rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Rezaei said Iran had made no decision to change its nuclear doctrine despite growing domestic pressure following attacks on nuclear facilities.
Carlson concluded his warning by urging international opposition to any potential nuclear attack.
The coming days could prove critical for negotiations, although there remains no independently verified evidence supporting Carlson’s claim that an American nuclear strike is imminent.
Sources: Tucker Carlson’s post on X, November 2026; reporting attributed to Axios, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, as supplied in the background material. Carlson’s allegations about nuclear strike planning have not been independently verified.
