Conspiracy theorist Tucker Carlson claims Netanyahu pushing Trump to nuke Iran

Far-right commentator and conspiracy theorist Tucker Carlson claimed Sunday that the United States, under pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, could soon launch a nuclear strike against Iran, amid reports that fighting could soon flare up again after months of relative calm.

“Under pressure from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran,” Carlson claimed in a lengthy post on X. “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,” declared Carlson, who has garnered criticism from former conservative allies for his antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric.

“The only military option is a nuclear strike. Netanyahu has been pushing hard for one. ‘Bibi calls [US President Donald] Trump about it every day,’ says an informed observer,” Carlson continued.

He said that Netanyahu is “cornered and desperate” after losing his governing majority in last week’s election. “He can’t form a government unless Trump intervenes directly in Israeli politics… Netanyahu must stay close to Trump. He needs this war.”

Carlson did not explain how he reached the conclusion that renewed war would mean a US nuclear strike, only warning that such a strike would “radically accelerate the destruction” caused by the previous round of fighting across the Middle East and Gulf.

“Fallout from a ground explosion at Pickax Mountain would contaminate the Persian Gulf, poisoning the water supply for 100 million people,” Carlson claimed. “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.”

“After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final,” Carlson prophesized, predicting that “hundreds of millions of people” will be killed “if Trump is pushed by Netanyahu into launching a nuclear strike next week.”

As of Monday evening, Israel time, the post had been viewed more than 60 million times.

Social media users pointed out that Carlson has predicted an imminent US nuclear strike on Iran several times since April.

Pickaxe Mountain has been flagged by Western intelligence as a site likely used to store nuclear material, and has not been struck yet by the US in the war. Trump has mentioned the site as a prime target if strikes are resumed, telling reporters on Saturday, “You probably could look at Pickaxe Mountain, and you have to take care of that.”

But Trump, in September, publicly scorned the idea of a nuclear attack on Iran.

Asked whether he had ruled out using a nuclear weapon against Iran, he said that he had, calling the question “stupid.”

“I would never say that but the answer is yes,” Trump told a reporter in the Oval Office. “There is no reason for it… What a stupid question.”

“They’re totally defeated militarily, and now I should use a nuclear weapon on them? What a stupid question,” he repeated.

Israel and the US launched a joint campaign against Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its nuclear and ballistic missile capacities. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes across the region, including at Israel, as well as by blockading the Strait of Hormuz, choking oil deliveries and rattling the global economy. A stalemate in the war has persisted for months, alongside stalled talks on a permanent ceasefire and Iran’s nuclear program.

The White House in May accused Carlson of spreading “fake news” a day after he told an Israeli news station that Netanyahu had dragged the US into the war with Iran.

In his podcast, “The Tucker Carlson Show,” the host regularly blasts Israel in terms that many describe as evoking classic antisemitic tropes. He has also, in the past, denied that Hamas is a terror group, saying it “seems more like a political organization.” He has also hosted avowed antisemites such as Nick Fuentes.

Carlson visited Israel in February to interview US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, who invited him for the talk after the podcaster criticized him on a show.

Israel initially considered barring Carlson from entering the country for the expected visit, but decided against the move so as not to cause a “diplomatic incident,” according to a Channel 13 report at the time.

After his brief visit, Carlson claimed the Israeli government targeted his family, called the Jewish state “probably the most violent country on earth,” and aired numerous antisemitic tropes.