Description:
Pepe Escobar says Vladimir Putin phoned Iran’s No. 2, Mohsen Rezaei, directly and spoke with him for 97 minutes; China and Pakistan called afterwards. Host Zulfiqar Ali, citing a person in the room, says Rezaei then formally rejected the US offer and came back to Iran’s seven points. Ali also says two strike routes are “completely locked.” Neither the Kremlin nor Tehran has confirmed the call or the rejection.
Sourcing note: The call and the rejection come from a person in the room, as described by Pepe Escobar and by the host, and cannot be independently verified. Escobar says on the recording: “We don’t have the details of what they discussed.”
Sourcing note: The call and the rejection come from a person in the room, as described by Pepe Escobar and by the host, and cannot be independently verified. Escobar says on the recording: “We don’t have the details of what they discussed.”
Timeline:
00:06:12 The call: Putin phones Iran’s No. 2, per Pepe Escobar
00:06:56 Why Escobar calls it “mind-blowing”: Putin’s calls “never last more than half an hour”
00:08:31 China and Pakistan call afterwards
00:23:42 Rezaei “rejected the U.S. offer formally… came back to the 7 points”, per the host
00:28:04 “You signed it as well” — Ali on Iran’s position
00:30:51 Can Trump still strike? Ali: two routes “completely locked”