Tucker Carlson did not mince words in a Monday post on X, asserting that the Trump administration is 'within days' of launching a nuclear strike on Iran. The target, he claimed, is Pickaxe Mountain in central Iran, a granite-heavy site where Israeli intelligence allegedly believes Tehran has restarted uranium enrichment. Conventional bombs, Carlson argued, simply aren't enough to crack that rock.
He alleged Netanyahu is calling Trump 'every day' to push for this specific operation. The commentator linked this push to Netanyahu’s fragile political position following Israel’s recent elections, suggesting the Israeli leader needs the war to stay in office and avoid criminal investigations. 'He needs this war,' Carlson wrote. He named top US officials—defence secretary Pete Hegseth, Centcom commander Brad Cooper, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and CIA director John Ratcliffe—as allegedly backing Netanyahu’s aggressive stance over a negotiated settlement.
But the White House messaging remains split. Axios reported that Trump and Netanyahu had a 'tough' phone conversation on Saturday, where Netanyahu pushed for fresh strikes after Tuesday’s US midterm elections, while Trump wanted to let negotiations breathe. Trump himself later described the call as 'very good talk' and confirmed Iran was on the agenda. Yet, he also made a striking admission about Pickaxe Mountain: 'We can do that in 10 minutes... We need to take care of that.'
Carlson warned that a ground explosion at the mountain could contaminate the Persian Gulf, threatening the water supply of 100 million people. He further claimed Russia has told other governments that a US nuclear strike would greenlight its own use of nukes against Ukraine. Meanwhile, diplomatic channels remain open. US Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to Iran’s national security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, last week, and Qatari mediators held talks with Iranian officials for a third straight day on Sunday.
The next 48 hours will be critical. If Trump decides to 'take care of' the mountain as he publicly mused, the diplomatic track collapses instantly. If he holds firm on 'negotiations going fine,' the pressure on Netanyahu to de-escalate intensifies. Watch for any sudden movement by US military assets to the Gulf or a formal statement from the Pentagon clarifying the status of 'battlefield nuke' doctrine revisions Carlson claimed occurred in February.