Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson reported that the Trump administration considered a nuclear strike on Iran's underground enrichment facilities under pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though President Donald Trump personally ruled out using nuclear weapons.
Carlson, in a post on X, said the target would be Pickax Mountain in central Iran, where Israeli intelligence claims the Iranian government has restarted its nuclear enrichment program. He noted that no conventional weapon in the American arsenal can penetrate 300 feet of solid granite to destroy the tunnels where enrichment is supposedly taking place, making a nuclear strike the only military option.
"Bibi calls Trump about it every day," Carlson quoted an informed observer as saying.
The post said the US President is likely to decide on using nuclear weapons by next week, i.e. by November 7. 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.
On October 16, Reuters reported that Trump had said the US might need to strike Pickaxe Mountain. In a Newsmax interview, Trump said Washington could take a shot at the site and destroy it. However, Trump explicitly ruled out using a nuclear weapon, saying it was unnecessary. He also ruled out sending American ground troops into Iran.
The post noted Netanyahu's political motivation: the Israeli prime minister fell short of forming government in recently concluded polls and needs Trump to intervene in Israeli politics and broker a deal with other parties that gives Netanyahu 61 seats in the Knesset. Failing that, Netanyahu is out as prime minister and would face investigations and possibly jail.
"Netanyahu must stay close to Trump. He needs this war," the post said.
Netanyahu has applied maximum pressure to his closest allies in the Trump administration, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper. Both are pushing to restart major combat operations as they oppose a negotiated settlement to the war.
On September 27, Netanyahu flew secretly to Abu Dhabi to enlist the UAE in his lobbying effort for a final attack on Iran. The UAE refused.
But an American nuclear attack on Iran would set a new precedent, Carlson warned. The Russians have already said that an American nuclear strike on Iran would free them to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
