For years, Putin says, Iran turned down Russia’s air defence. Then — according to Pepe Escobar’s sources — Putin sent his own plane for Iran’s security chief, and after five hours a member of the negotiating team tells Zulfiqar Ali the S-400 deal is done. Escobar says it is not confirmed. Plus: Iran’s 400-target warning to every Gulf capital, and the strike on Aramco’s Riyadh tower.
Timeline:
00:09:45 Aramco’s Riyadh tower hit — and what Escobar says Ansar Allah hits next.
00:14:34 Iran’s message to every Gulf state: lend your airspace to an attack, and you are a target.
00:28:39 The S-400: what a member of the negotiating team told our host.
The US-led order in the Middle East is facing one of its biggest challenges yet. Iran refuses to surrender, Yemen continues to resist Saudi-backed forces, and Israel's war is creating growing political and economic consequences across the Western world.
In this explosive episode of Silk and Steel, Carl Zha welcomes back Laith Marouf, journalist and representative of Free Palestine TV, for an in-depth discussion about the changing balance of power in West Asia.
Why has Saudi Arabia renewed its military campaign in Yemen? Can the United States and Israel actually defeat Iran? And is Washington's unconditional support for Israel undermining the foundations of American power?
Laith Marouf offers his perspective on the battlefield developments in Yemen, the resilience of Iran, the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, and the growing challenge to the US-led regional security system.
Pepe Escobar with Zulfiqar Ali on Transition Protocol. Sources say Pickaxe Mountain, the Iranian site Trump says the US may strike, is empty, its materials moved to a highly secure location fewer than five people know. Escobar says a strike would hit "a mega, mega mountain for nothing."
Ali's Iranian contacts say "multiple warheads" are locked onto Dimona. Escobar describes a Saudi prince's warning in Tehran and a ghost Italian jet, and a contact close to Mohsen Rezaei says "flat-out no" to the deal reports.
The Pickaxe Mountain report is Transition Protocol's own sourcing and cannot be independently verified.
Timeline:
00:05:56 The empty mountain, a TP exclusive
00:07:37 Italy's ghost jet at Mehrabad: a plea to spare Aviano and Sigonella?
00:15:25 Oil fell on deal reports. A contact close to Rezaei: "flat-out no."
00:19:14 "Multiple warheads, many angles": what Iran's contacts say about Dimona
00:38:23 A Saudi prince in Tehran: "Turkey next. Then us."
“Finish the job this time.” Sources close to Tehran and Islamabad say that is what Iran’s Supreme Leader told his commanders it is their obligation to do if the US strikes — and that “geographical constraints do not exist.” Larry Johnson’s sources say Trump’s option after Tuesday’s midterms is seizing Kharg Island, a gamble Pepe Escobar calls “absolutely suicidal.” Escobar, from Shanghai after midnight, and Zulfiqar Ali.
Timeline:
00:03:01 Washington’s option: Kharg Island, according to sources cited by Larry Johnson
00:17:29 “No traction”: Tehran’s answer to the Vance letter, per our host’s sources
00:20:51 The orders: “All have their orders, down to the level of the commander who’s going to push the button.”
00:21:24 Dimona: who decides, and on what trigger — per our host’s sources
00:33:03 Riyadh fears it’s next: the Saudi defence minister agreed in Tehran, per Mohsen Rezaei
00:40:52 Hormuz: “not gonna be a petrodollar oil chokepoint” — why Escobar says oil is splitting into blocs
Prof. Seyed Mohammad Marandi is a professor at Tehran University and a former advisor to Iran's nuclear negotiation team. He discusses U.S. war plans toward Iran and a last-minute off-ramp.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Introduction and Context of Current Tensions
00:02:50 Iran's Intelligence and Military Preparedness
00:10:09 Consequences of Potential Conflict
00:13:08 Iran's Strategic Moves and US Midterm Elections
00:18:05 Negotiation Dynamics and Off-Ramps
00:24:49 Potential Outcomes and Global Implications
00:27:48 The Escalating Tensions in the Middle East
00:31:22 The Political Landscape in Israel
00:36:31 The Regional Chessboard: Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Beyond
00:41:09 The Future of U.S. Influence in the Middle East
00:49:57 The Global Implications of U.S. Foreign Policy
America lost. Iran didn’t win. Vijay Prashad, back from Brazil and China, says that is why neither side will make the first concession — Iranian nuclear material or American bases.
Our host’s sources say Iran will ask China and Russia to act as guarantors of the Trump administration’s conduct — a task the host himself calls impossible. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia’s defence minister sat down in Tehran, and Prashad says what a real UN chief would do: “set up the UN headquarters in Gaza.”
Timeline:
00:18:01 Who could guarantee Trump? China, Russia and the Islamabad MoU — per our host’s sources.
00:25:53 “You can lose a war without the other side having won it”: Vijay Prashad’s verdict.
00:42:15 Move the UN to Gaza: “we dare you to bomb us.”
Scott Ritter tells Judge Napolitano that the Pentagon plan is a raid on Iran's energy sites at Kharg and Qeshm, meant to collapse the Iranian economy and target its leadership, not an occupation of the islands.
He says Iran would answer by striking Gulf energy infrastructure, including Saudi Arabia, and that Senator Chris Murphy should reveal the plan and try to stop what Ritter calls an illegal war.
A major US strike on Iran may be coming right after the midterms, and in this episode we explain why Netanyahu's strong showing in the Israeli election makes it all but certain. They break down the Wall Street Journal reports on JD Vance reaching out to Iranian hardliners, the Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani delegation to Tehran, Lavrov's visit, and why Iran refuses to surrender the Strait of Hormuz, its allies, or uranium enrichment. Could Trump be launching a conflict that is easy to start but nearly impossible to end?
Timeline:
00:00:00 Israel election, US midterms and the WSJ Iran report
00:00:55 Why the Israeli election matters most
00:03:03 Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani delegation in Tehran
00:04:30 Iran refuses to back down
00:06:02 US demands on Hormuz, Houthis and enrichment
00:07:19 Is Iran stronger than in February
00:07:56 Lavrov in Tehran and the Russian grain lifeline
00:10:48 The April MOU Trump walked away from
00:12:31 Easy to start, hard to end
00:13:07 Post midterm calculus and the impeachment factor
Pepe Escobar tells Judge Napolitano that Pakistan is not siding with Iran militarily. He says Field Marshal Asim Munir proposed the Tehran meeting, where the Turkish intelligence chief, the Saudi defense minister, and Munir sat with Mohsen Rezaei, and that Pakistan is mediating between the Mecca Defense Alliance and Iran, and between Iran and the United States.
With about 77% of the Knesset vote counted, Nima Alkhorshid says Netanyahu's bloc is near 54 seats and the other bloc near 49, both short of 61, and Elijah Magnier says neither can form a government on its own. Nima cites a Wall Street Journal report that the United States warned Gulf Arab states to prepare for a brief, intense military campaign against Iran after the midterms, and Magnier says more bombing would not bring Iran to the table.
Pepe Escobar on Transition Protocol. Flávio Bolsonaro reportedly crossed into Argentina on foot with just his ID; Argentina says it has no record of his entry, and his whereabouts are unknown. And MBS didn’t want the Tehran meeting at all: sources say Pakistan’s army chief persuaded him, and MBS sent his brother, Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman.
Timeline:
00:01:24 Bolsonaro’s son: on foot to Argentina, with only his ID — as reported.
00:04:25 What Trump said about Brazil’s vote — and about Lula.
00:25:59 Why MBS sent his brother to Tehran — per the person who organised the meeting.
00:35:01 What Riyadh asked Iran — and what Yemen did hours later.
Nima Alkhorshid says Asim Munir asked Iran to host a Tehran summit of the Mecca defense pact because of the war in Yemen, and that Yemen announced ballistic-missile hits on Saudi military aircraft at Abha and Khamis Mushait and on the Ministry of Defense in Riyadh. Larry Wilkerson says Israel is the pact's main problem, that Saudi Arabia is being beaten and is begging Iran for help, and that a reported offer of $1 billion to Ansarallah for a ceasefire was rejected.
Description:
Less than 24 hours from Israeli election day, fighter jets are in the skies. Robert Inlakesh investigates the killing of two Israeli soldiers near the Yehuda Junction, in Al-Khalil (Hebron), which he says triggered a pre-election operation that Netanyahu threatened could grow larger than anything since 1967.
He argues the corporate media is silent on Gulf oil infrastructure, and says Ansarallah is dismantling Saudi oil assets, including pipelines, while those raids are framed as self-defense and the Iran-Yemen strikes as terrorism. The episode also covers a reported US vow to strike Iran within 96 hours.
Description:
Per Zulfiqar Ali’s sources, 14 Russian tankers have delivered arms to Iran, distributed to 33 IRGC commanders who can act on their own if Iran’s leaders are killed. The same sources say Israel’s own intelligence warns that one strike would bring ten back. Israel votes tomorrow; Larry Johnson on what changes if Netanyahu loses.
2:16 14 tankers from Russia, per the host’s sources.
3:05 The 33 commanders and the decapitation contingency.
4:28 Why Israel hasn’t struck Iran again: one punch, ten back.
5:36 The same day: Saudi Arabia’s defence minister in Tehran.
What you’ll learn: what the host’s sources say Iran has prepared for a strike on its leaders; why, per the same sources, Israel’s intelligence has held back; what Larry Johnson expects from Israel’s vote; why Saudi Arabia went to Tehran and who arranged it; why oil on the UAE’s beaches matters for the Gulf’s water; what Brazil’s result means for BRICS.
Sourcing note: The 14 tankers, the 33 commanders, the decapitation contingency, the Israeli intelligence assessment, the Supreme Leader’s approval of the Tehran meeting and Mohsin Naqvi’s presence are the host’s sourcing and could not be independently verified; no public report of the tankers was found. Larry Johnson’s statements on Israel’s vote, the Saudi agenda, the partners’ position and the desalination risk are his analysis.
Public record: Lavrov visited Tehran on 19 October; the Russia–Iran 20-year partnership took effect on 2 October. Israel votes on 27 October; final polls put Yashar (Eisenkot) at 22–23 seats and Likud at 19–21, with neither bloc at 61. The Makkah Pact delegations met Iranian officials in Tehran on 26 October at Pakistan’s request. Israel Hayom reported a $1 billion Saudi offer to the Houthis; Riyadh did not confirm it. UAE beaches in Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah were closed after an oil spill. Brazil: Lula 51.8%, Flávio Bolsonaro 48.2%.
