Keneci Network @kenecifeed
The United States reportedly carried out limited, “defensive” airstrikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island on Monday. This comes as popular American journalist Tucker Carlson claimed in a long post on X that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is urgently pressuring Donald Trump to launch a nuclear strike on Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain enrichment site, as conventional weapons cannot penetrate the site's 91-meter granite protection.
Iranian state media IRNA reported five to six explosions on the island and in nearby Bandar Abbas, though it initially did not confirm the cause. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have downed US drones, including MQ-9s and MQM-170s, using electronic warfare.
The U.S. strikes were reportedly part of a weeks-long secret campaign of smaller-scale attacks deliberately kept out of the public eye to avoid signaling a return to full-scale war.
The strikes occurred on the eve of the US midterm elections. President Donald Trump publicly downplayed the prospect of renewed large-scale hostilities, saying, “We had a war with Iran. We won;” and denying plans for new attacks.
However, according to journalist Carlson, Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly pressed Trump to consider fresh military action after the elections. "Under pressure from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran," Carlson wrote on X. "The target would be Pickax Mountain in central Iran, where Israeli intelligence claims the Iranian government has restarted its nuclear enrichment program."
Carlson linked Netanyahu’s desperation for to recent Israeli election results, claiming the Prime Minister needs Trump’s intervention to secure a 61-seat Knesset majority or face imprisonment, and alleged that officials like Pete Hegseth and Brad Cooper support renewed combat while JD Vance and Steve Witkoff urge diplomacy. The commentator warned that a decision could come by November 7, predicting inevitable World War III and massive civilian casualties from fallout.
Trump and Netanyahu reportedly held a "tough" phone call over the weekend, with the prime minister pressing for strikes immediately after Tuesday's U.S. midterms while Trump wanted negotiations to play out. The White House and Netanyahu's office declined to comment.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei stated "no nuclear activity is taking place" at Pickaxe Mountain, calling US threats "a fabricated pretext for aggression." CSIS satellite analysis of the mountain captured construction but could not confirm centrifuges or enrichment equipment inside.
The US has previously struck Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan, but Pickaxe Mountain remains untouched. Trump has discussed deploying the conventional GBU-43/B "Mother of All Bombs" as an alternative.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance said there's progress toward a negotiated settlement with Tehran, and Iranian officials signaled willingness to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if US demands were met. "We've had a number of conversations with the Iranians. I actually just spoke with the president of the United States about about an hour ago about this," he told reporters Tuesday. "Look, the president and I both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement. We're going to keep on working at it."