{"id":250007,"date":"2026-11-12T20:00:41","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T20:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=250007"},"modified":"2026-11-12T20:06:22","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T20:06:22","slug":"alastair-crooke-says-trump-has-until-january-3rd-to-attack-iran-while-netanyahu-calls-several-times-a-day-asking-for-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/alastair-crooke-says-trump-has-until-january-3rd-to-attack-iran-while-netanyahu-calls-several-times-a-day-asking-for-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Alastair Crooke says Trump has until January 3rd to attack Iran, while Netanyahu calls \u201cseveral times a day\u201d asking for war"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alastair Crooke says Trump has until January 3rd to attack Iran, while Netanyahu calls \u201cseveral times a day<\/em>\u201d asking for war.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Former British diplomat Alastair Crooke says President Trump has until January 3 to resume the war with Iran, and Benjamin Netanyahu is urging him to do so \u201cmultiple times a day, every day<\/em>.\u201d Crooke, who last month<\/a> wrote about the cost of the war, said in the Daniel Davis Deep Dive<\/em> podcast that the nuclear option for Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain \u201cmight actually do nothing at all<\/em>,\u201d and that Iran will not negotiate until seven conditions are met.<\/p>\n

Moderator Daniel Davis opened the interview a few days after what he called a \u201cresounding slap in the face<\/em>\u201d for Republicans in the midterm elections. He noted that Trump had met his war council the previous day and that a third carrier strike group was about ten days away. Davis asked Crooke whether the election should have ended the discussion about another war. Crooke called that idea \u201ccounterintuitive<\/em>\u201d for Trump. What followed was an argument that the timeline creates pressure to strike now.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe only has until January 3rd.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHe only has until January 3rd<\/em>,\u201d Crooke said of Trump. \u201cAfter January 3rd, it will be much more difficult for him to start a war because the new Congress will have convened<\/em>.\u201d According to Crooke, Netanyahu\u2019s deadline is shorter: He \u201ccame badly weakened from the election<\/em>,\u201d and \u201cHe calls him or people in Trump\u2019s circle several times a day, every day, and asks for war because Netanyahu sees it as his only salvation<\/em>.\u201d Crooke offered no evidence of the calls.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In Israeli politics, developments are moving in the opposite direction. As alternative media has reported<\/a>, Israeli President Netanyahu’s rival, Gadi Eisenkot, has become the first to be given the chance to form a government; Arab-led parties<\/a> support him. Crooke does not expect a government under Eisenkot to want Trump’s war: \u201cWell, would Eisenkot agree to a war? I think the answer to that is no<\/em>.\u201d Eisenkot and the Chief of Staff have \u201call said there is no reason to start a war with Iran early on<\/em>.\u201d However, Eisenkot is \u201cjust as tough as everyone else<\/em>\u201d regarding Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon.<\/p>\n

According to Crooke, the intervening period is where the danger lies. Netanyahu could still act, he said: \u201cThen he can legally start a war, and the IDF has to comply, even if it disagrees and opposes it<\/em>.\u201d Crooke’s conclusion: \u201cSo the window of opportunity is closed. What we’re left with is really a last, desperate roll of the dice<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 400-kiloton bomb against a granite mountain<\/strong><\/p>\n

When asked about his biggest concerns, Crooke went through Trump’s options, starting with the one that has been discussed ever since Trump set his sights on it<\/a>: a nuclear strike. The United States’ primary nuclear bunker buster, he said, is the B61-11. He estimated its yield at 400 kilotons and described it as a \u201cdumb bomb<\/em>,\u201d unguided, dropped from above, \u201cin the hope that it lands roughly in the right place<\/em>.\u201d Reports indicate the bomb’s maximum yield is between 340 and 400 kilotons; it can be carried by a B-2.<\/p>\n

Crooke’s doubt is that it wouldn’t reach its target. \u201cWell, if it goes off, firstly, it might not do anything at all, because granite is known to absorb those kinds of vibrations, explosive vibrations<\/em>.\u201d Regarding the depth, he said, \u201cEven the experts don’t know, but maybe it can penetrate 30 meters<\/em>\u201d, less than the roughly 100 meters where he placed the target. Should it explode, he said, \u201cI think in an area all around, for several kilometres, it could potentially be lethal to people<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The smaller B61-12, which he estimated to have a yield of 50 kilotons, requires an F-35, and he doubted it would have the necessary range from Jordan without refuelling. The B-2, which would carry the larger bomb, would be vulnerable along its route, he said, because stealth technology \u201conly works for a small part of a journey<\/em>.\u201d \u201cWhat occurs if the Iranians shoot it down? Then they would have a ready-to-use nuclear bomb in their possession<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crooke said that in Washington, the prevailing view was that a nuclear explosion would be like Hiroshima, and \u201cthe Iranians would immediately wave the white flag<\/em>.\u201d He countered: \u201cThe Iranians would never accept a nuclear attack<\/em>.\u201d Conventional attacks had already been attempted twice, he noted. \u201cThey didn’t bring down the state. They didn’t trigger an insurrection<\/em>.\u201d He called the options of a ground invasion \u201cpretty crazy<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

No negotiations until seven conditions are met<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mojtaba Khamenei said, as reported by state media<\/a>, that the power of the United States had diminished. Davis interpreted this as follows: \u201cThe declining power and hegemony of the United States has suffered an irreversible decline in both dimensions of its power: its hard military power and its international soft power. The process of US collapse has accelerated<\/em>.\u201d The leader warned that anyone who believes \u201cthat concessions to the US could persuade them to abandon their hostility is completely mistaken<\/em>.\u201d Davis interpreted this as a sign that Iran would carry out the threatened attacks on infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Crooke linked this to Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow and conveyed the leader’s message, according to Iranian media reports<\/a>. \u201cRezaei made it unequivocally clear that Iran stands firmly by its position: there will be no negotiations until the seven conditions of the memorandum of understanding that Trump signed in Versailles are met<\/em>.\u201d That is Crooke’s description of the document; we were unable to locate the Versailles memorandum of understanding. The conditions should be met first, he said, \u201cnot gradually, not one by one, but before negotiations can even begin. And the nuclear issue comes not first, but last<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that, in his view, Iran had been reorganized for war: the course of the war was being \u201ccompletely controlled by the IRGC through the National Security Council<\/em>,\u201d while President Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Araghchi were there \u201cto offer their advice<\/em>.\u201d Even Pezeshkian, who belongs to a faction that favours talks, \u201csees no point in negotiations with the United States<\/em>,\u201d he said. Regarding Russia, Crooke said there had been no summary of the conversation and speculated that \u201cPutin advised the Iranians that deterrence would not be enough to avert a potential war<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Should the US attack, Iran will retaliate beyond the region, according to Crooke. Khamenei has warned of \u201cno geographical boundaries<\/em>.\u201d Crooke said, \u201cThey will target elements like data centres. They may also attack submarine cables and telephone links<\/em>,\u201d which would \u201ccause enormous long-term damage to the American and global economies<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Will Trump listen to the hawks?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Davis played a clip of Fox News<\/em> commentator Marc Thiessen about Vice President JD Vance, who had said that Republicans lost because of the war. Thiessen: \u201cThat was, quite frankly, disloyal to the President of the United States<\/em>.\u201d Davis added that the Wall Street Journal<\/em> had said Vance’s theory about the defeat \u201cwas close to a public call for surrender<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Europe’s Ukraine bill<\/strong><\/p>\n

Davis concluded by asking whether the same dynamic existed in Europe: \u201cNot giving Ukraine another 175 billion euros they don’t have, to Zelensky<\/em>.\u201d Crooke said the EU loan to Ukraine of around 90 billion euros does not appear in the budget: \u201cThere is no item above 90 billion in the European budget<\/em>.\u201d He said it was debt guaranteed by member states and recorded under the \u201cflexibility<\/em>\u201d allowance. The EU itself describes the loan as being financed by borrowing against this flexibility allowance, RFE\/RL<\/em> reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Crooke said Zelensky had spent most of it and added: \u201cI urgently need 70 billion and probably 155 billion to get through the next few years<\/em>.\u201d \u201cIt’s not financially viable. Anyone can see it’s not financially viable<\/em>,\u201d Crooke said.<\/p>\n

His answer to the question of what Europe will do is that it will continue, with a seven-year budget, for which, according to him, the contributions of the member states would have to increase significantly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nNovember 12, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alastair Crooke says Trump has until January 3rd to attack Iran, while Netanyahu calls \u201cseveral times a day\u201d asking for war. Former British diplomat Alastair Crooke says President Trump has until January 3 to resume the war with Iran, and Benjamin Netanyahu is urging him to do so \u201cmultiple times a day, every day.\u201d Crooke, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1087],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-250007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-censored-news-politics-5127-en-censored-sensational-news-3480-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250007"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250023,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250007\/revisions\/250023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}