Seyed M. Marandi | Are Pakistan and Turkey joining the war in Yemen? | Sep. 25, 2026

Source: India & Global Left youtube



Description: 

The war in Yemen is entering a new phase. With Saudi Arabia facing renewed Houthi attacks and the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, could Pakistan and Turkey become directly involved in the Yemen conflict?

In this interview, Mohammad Marandi examines the strategic meaning of the Mecca defence pact, the interests of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, the complex relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and the wider regional implications of the conflict.

We also discuss whether regional powers are being drawn into a broader confrontation, the role of mediators in Iran-US relations, and where the US-Iran conflict could go from here.

Timeline:
0:00 Geopolitical tensions and regional alliances
0:32 The Yemen conflict and regional stakes
5:13 Popular sentiment in Pakistan and Turkey
11:30 The future of Iran-Pakistan relations
16:25 The Iran-Saudi Arabia dynamic
23:50 US-Iran relations: strategy or stagnation?
32:19 Nuclear threats and global security

Pepe Escobar | Iran Will Strike First — New Weapons From China and North Korea Have Reached Iran | Sep. 23, 2026

Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description: 

Pepe Escobar and host Zulfiqar Ali on Transition Protocol, the night of the UN General Assembly: a source close to Tehran's leadership told the host that Iran has ordered its forces to strike first once an attack is confirmed, and expects that attack in October rather than after the midterms. 

They cover what that source says has arrived from China and North Korea, why Pakistan has stepped back as mediator but not away from Iran, three demands Araghchi handed Steve Witkoff in New York, and a diplomatic door China is trying to hold open before Xi Jinping meets Trump.

The channel marks the first-strike order, the weapons deliveries from China and North Korea, and Pakistani intelligence cooperation as single-source and not independently verified. Trump did not use the word "nuclear" at the UN; his words were "annihilate the Islamic Republic" and "drive them into hell."

Sabrina Salvati | US Out of Interceptors: China Chokes Rare Earths as Red Sea Closes | Transition Protocol | Sept. 21, 2026

Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
The strikes were approved and the bombs were being loaded — then Trump called them off, and Saudi Arabia found out Pakistan and Turkey weren’t coming either. Sabrina Salvati and Zulfiqar Ali on the kingdom nobody came to save, and why Iran says Washington has to move first before diesel comes down.

Recorded Monday 21 September 2026, the eve of UN General Assembly week and three days before Xi Jinping’s talks with Trump in Washington.

In this episode: why Trump walked away from joining Saudi Arabia’s war on the Houthis (Ansar Allah) · the Mecca defence pact and Pakistan’s “fine print” · Iran’s three conditions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz · record U.S. diesel prices and the winter heating warning · Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico and the TV pool’s refusal to fill in · what Xi Jinping’s rare-earth leverage means for the Iran war · and the hosts’ commentary on the end-times and the White House ballroom bunker.

On sourcing: Reports that U.S. strikes on the Houthis were halted as aircraft were being loaded come from the New York Times, Axios and Reuters (21 Sept). The “twenty to one” retaliation figure is from the host’s own contacts and is not independently confirmed. Segments marked COMMENTARY or OPINION on screen are the hosts’ views, not factual claims. Corrections made on screen: Xi Jinping is meeting Trump in Washington, not at the UN; the Houthis are reported to be advancing on — not closing — the Bab al-Mandab strait; the California diesel average is above $8 

Pepe Escobar | IRAN Names Its Price to OPEN Hormuz, Sent Them With CHINA, IRAN:Take the Deal, or It’s 20 to 2 | Transition Protocol | Sept. 21, 2026

Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
Tehran has priced the Strait of Hormuz. The bill went to Washington through Qatar, with Pakistan named as a consultation partner and the terms agreed with Beijing first.

Iran has set out what it wants in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Seven conditions were relayed to the United States through Qatar; three have been published and four have not. Sanctions relief is not among them — and in this episode Pepe Escobar explains why Tehran did not bother asking for something Congress and a Security Council veto make undeliverable.

The part that is not being reported anywhere else: before Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington on Thursday 24 September, Abbas Araghchi flew to Beijing and told Wang Yi that Iran had reached a plan with Oman to reopen the trade. Transition Protocol’s reporting is that the three points were agreed between the two foreign ministers ahead of that visit. That specific claim is ours and is not independently confirmed; everything around it is sourced and linked below.

And if Washington refuses? On the recording Pepe Escobar says the retaliation will not be two to one or five to one but “20 to 2, or maybe 30 to 2.” That figure is Iran’s stated position as relayed by Escobar — it is not a Transition Protocol forecast. Separately, and on his own sourcing, Zulfiqar Ali puts the figure at 22 to 1. We have left both on the record rather than splitting the difference, because they come from different sources and we are not going to pretend otherwise. 

Chas Freeman | U.S. Alliances Collapse & Israel Commits Suicide | Sept. 14, 2026

Source: Glenn Diesen youtube



Description:
Ambassador Chas Freeman was a former Assistant Secretary of Defense, earning the highest public service awards of the Department of Defense for his roles in designing a NATO-centred post-Cold War European security system and in reestablishing defence and military relations with China. He served as U. S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Larry Johnson | Diesel Just Hit $9.999, Trump Is Blaming Wrong War, Trump Has 3 Days to Reverse on Iran | Transition Protocol | Sept. 14, 2026

Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
American diesel just set an all-time record — $6.05 a gallon nationally, $7.87 in California, and six pumps in the state stuck at $9.999 because the hardware cannot display a fourth digit. On Sunday the President said the cause was Ukraine. Larry Johnson says it is the wrong war.

Recorded 14 September 2026. Military analyst Larry Johnson joins Dr. Zulfiqar Ali from Russia to explain the mechanism almost no one is reporting: roughly 70% of US refineries are configured for heavy and sour crude, the grades that used to arrive from Russia, Iran, Venezuela and the Persian Gulf. Those inputs are gone. You cannot make diesel from crude your refinery was not built to process — and no strategic reserve holds finished diesel.

Also in this episode, from sources in Tehran and Islamabad contacted within the hour before recording:

• Why Saudi Arabia was refused three times — twice by Washington, and once by Pakistan under the Mecca Defence Accord it signed in August, reportedly on the grounds that the Yemen war is "a pre-existing condition"
• Dr. Ali's reporting that MBS asked Field Marshal Asim Munir directly for military support and was turned down flat
• Why the UAE and Kuwait have repaired relations with Tehran, leaving Bahrain as the only holdout in the Gulf
• The arrangement taking shape behind the postponed Oman talks: a safe passage administered by Iran and Oman, with a toll the Gulf states are reportedly prepared to pay
• Larry Johnson's assessment that Donald Trump has two or three days to reverse course before the midterm economy is beyond recovery
• What the East–West pipeline shutdown means now that Yanbu holds only days of export stock 

Larry C. Johnson | US Bases in Jordan Suffer Sustained Iran Missile Attack — U.S. Power Just Cracked | Transition Protocol | Sept. 9, 2026

Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
Washington said it would answer tanker for tanker. Iran struck US bases in Jordan and hit ships in the Gulf. By the time this conversation was recorded in St Petersburg, the American answer still had not come.

Zulfiqar Ali speaks with military analyst Larry Johnson about the Gulf confrontation, the diesel shortage that matters more than the crude price, Iran's exit from the dollar system through Chinese banking channels, Pakistan's emergence as Tehran's financial back door, and what the missile-versus-interceptor exchange over Jordan revealed about American air defence. Johnson also recounts a private dinner with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, and gives a blunt assessment of where Ukraine ends.

Larry Johnson is a former CIA analyst and former deputy director of the State Department's Office of Counterterrorism, speaking from St Petersburg. Transition Protocol is an independent, source-driven geopolitical and economic analysis channel.

This episode contains analysis, forecasts and claims attributed to the speakers and to their unnamed contacts. Several are single-source and have not been independently verified. Where accounts differ from official statements — including the scale of the Jordan strike — we have said so on screen. Consequential claims should be independently verified.

Pepe Escobar | North Korea Just Delivered Carrier-Killer Drones to Iran | Sep. 8, 2026

Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description: 

Pepe Escobar, reporting from Seoul, and Zulfiqar Ali on Iran's shift from defense to offense, a reported North Korean underwater-drone delivery, and the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's leadership has concluded that this war cannot be settled at a negotiating table. Recorded 8 September 2026, they lay out how diplomatic off-ramps brokered by Pakistan collapsed and what that means for the wider Iran war. 

Zulfiqar Ali reports, from sources inside Iran's power structures, that North Korea has delivered stealth underwater attack drones to Iran through a corridor involving China and Pakistan, and that the decision to go on the offensive was cleared by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, President Pezeshkian, Speaker Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Araghchi. The channel marks this as source-based reporting, not independently verified. 

Escobar assesses a possible American counter-response and what a strategic defeat in West Asia and Ukraine at the same time would mean for US power.

Seyed M. Marandi | Trump's Iran War Is Backfiring — Iran Will Not Surrender | Judge Napolitano | Sep. 4, 2026

Source: Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom youtube



Description:
Prof. Mohammad Marandi: Trump's Iran War Is Backfiring — Iran Will Not Surrender. What Happens Next? 

Prof. Robert Pape | Iran AMBUSHES US Bases! Why America Has NO WAY OUT of 'Escalation Trap' | Sept. 3, 2026

Source: Danny Haiphong youtube



Description:
Professor Robert Pape joins to discuss Trump's nightmare scenario unfolding as the Iran War escalation trap squeezes US hegemony to the breaking point. Iran has just launched a devastating preemptive strike and the trap isn't just set, it's igniting a global fire storm unseen in the history of geopolitics.

Larry Johnson & Pepe Escobar | Iran Told Trump "GET LOST" 10-Day Ceasefire REJECTED Trump Begged Iran | Transition Protocol | Sept. 2, 2026

Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
Iran told Trump "get lost." Sources with direct contact to Islamabad and Tehran tell Transition Protocol that Trump offered Iran a 10-day cessation of hostilities this week — and was refused. Then, through Qatar, the White House asked Iran to allow "performative strikes" with no retaliation. Iran refused again. 

Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir has stopped returning Trump's calls after being sent to Tehran twice and reneged on twice. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed despite official claims it is "wide open," CENTCOM has re-stood up a 24/7 battle staff, and Iran's retaliation doctrine is now 2-to-1, 3-to-1, 5-to-1 with a war plan built to run through the US midterms.

Larry Johnson explains why the bond market — not the Pentagon — is forcing Trump to back down: Treasury yields are rising and, in his words, "nobody's buying." Pepe Escobar breaks down the tanker-for-tanker gamble that could detonate global shipping insurance, Ghalibaf's warning that "if we cannot export oil, nobody will," and the SCO development bank being built outside the US dollar at Bishkek and Vladivostok ahead of the BRICS summit in India. Zulfiqar Ali reports Tehran's final position: diplomacy only through the Islamabad MOU — no more negotiations.

Guests: Larry Johnson, former CIA analyst and State Department counter-terrorism official; Pepe Escobar, veteran geopolitical correspondent covering BRICS, SCO and Eurasia from the ground; hosted by Zulfiqar Ali. Inside-source claims in this episode are attributed and identified on screen as developing; nothing unverified is presented as settled fact. Transition Protocol is a serious, source-driven geopolitical and economic analysis channel — evidence-based reporting on global power shifts and their financial consequences. Subscribe and join us on Substack for twice-weekly briefings 

Dr. Warwick Powell | US IS LOSING THE MIDDLE EAST — China & Iran Build a New Order | Sept. 2, 2026

Source: Carl Zha youtube



Description:
In this episode of Silk and Steel, Carl Zha speaks with Dr. Warwick Powell about Trump's renewed campaign of maximum economic pressure against Iran, the threat of secondary sanctions against countries doing business with Tehran, and why China may be the critical factor that determines whether the strategy succeeds or fails.

Powell argues that decades of sanctions and the latest military campaign have failed to achieve Washington's stated objectives. Now, with the US facing economic and political pressures at home, the Trump administration may be trying to create the appearance of action while avoiding an escalation that could produce even greater economic pain.

The discussion goes far beyond sanctions.

China's growing economic relationship with Iran, Russia's position, the Strait of Hormuz, and the emergence of new regional partnerships may be pointing toward something much larger: the beginnings of a post-US Persian Gulf security and economic architecture.

The conversation examines whether Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran could become part of a new regional configuration — and what role China and Russia could play as economic and strategic backstops.

The episode also explores the deeper problem facing Washington: what happens when a declining hegemon tries to prevent the emergence of a new international order?

And with a potential Xi Jinping–Trump summit approaching and the US midterm elections looming, Powell explains why escalating rhetoric against China may be driven as much by American domestic politics as by foreign policy.

Topics Covered
Trump's new “economic D-Day” against Iran
Why decades of sanctions have failed to force regime change
The limits of US secondary sanctions
Why China is central to Iran's economy
China's response to US sanctions
Russia's potential role
The strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz
The changing Persian Gulf security architecture
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran
China's rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia
China's expanding role across Eurasia
The emergence of a possible post-US regional order
Why Washington may be accelerating the changes it wants to stop
American exceptionalism and the struggle to accept a multipolar world
The US military-industrial complex
Trump, Xi and the next phase of US-China relations
US sanctions and tariffs ahead of the midterm elections
America's increasingly fragile economic picture
The AI investment boom and the US economy 

Pepe Escobar | Iran Gave TRUMP a Way Out of WAR Return to the MOU or Hormuz Stays SHUT Why He Said NO | Transition Protocol | Sept. 2, 2026

Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
Trump called Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir repeatedly — "find me an off-ramp" — according to a source close to Munir cited by Zulfiqar Ali. 

Munir went to Tehran and, Zulfiqar reports, persuaded a reluctant Iran to offer Washington a way out; Trump rejected it because he could not present it as a victory. 

Days later the Strait of Hormuz tanker incident restarted the bombing. The call-level details are Zulfiqar's sourced reporting and have not been independently verified; the 14-point Islamabad MOU is public (link below).

Pepe Escobar then lays out what Washington won't: Iran's actual terms (return to the MOU or Hormuz stays shut), the timeline Tehran is reported to be planning for, the endurance contest over interceptors and resupply, and why the global economy cannot sustain a forever war at the world's most important chokepoint.

Then the story the West ignored this week: the SCO summit in Bishkek. The declaration on the attack on Iran and "indivisible security"; the proposed SCO energy consortium and development bank outside the dollar system; 

Mongolia and Afghanistan moving toward membership; Pakistan's 2027 chairmanship; and the Saudi–Pakistan–Turkey Mecca Defence Agreement moving from paper to institution. What is confirmed, what is developing, and what it means for oil, the dollar and the next phase of the war.

Pepe Escobar is a veteran geopolitical analyst who has covered the SCO since its 2001 founding. Zulfiqar Ali's reporting draws on sources inside Pakistan's military and diplomatic leadership. Transition Protocol is an independent, source-driven channel; claims from insiders are labelled as such on screen. Subscribe and turn on notifications — tomorrow: Larry Johnson on Vladivostok and the Eastern Economic Forum. 

Abby Martin & Lowkey | BROKE INTO the US Military — Iran War WORSE Than You Think | Lowkey | Sept. 1, 2026

Source: Danny Haiphong youtube



Description:
BREAKING: US is attacking Iran as war spirals out of control. Journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin joins the show for the first time to tell us how her new film investigating the inner workings of the US military and its impact on the planet relates to the restart of the Iran war. She is joined by rapper and journalist Lowkey for a massive discussion on why Trump and the US empire's war is going worse than you think.

John Mearsheimer | Russia & Iran - The West’s Escalation Trap | Aug. 28, 2026

Source: Glenn Diesen youtube



Description:
Prof. John Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Chicago

Pepe Escobar | BREAKING: The Nuclear Signal Nobody Expected.Why the Next 72 Hours Decide Everything | Aug. 27, 2026

Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
IRAN HAS SIGNALLED IT MAY OPEN THE NUCLEAR FILE — and the Strait of Hormuz has 72 hours to prove whether the deal is real. 

Pepe Escobar and Zulfiqar Ali break down the Iran–US architecture now being assembled through Pakistani mediation: the closed Strait of Hormuz, the war-risk insurance premiums that will move before any government speaks, the six billion dollars sitting in Qatari banks, and the three-capital joint statement that sources say could land within 48 hours. Sources close to the talks indicate Iranian negotiators may show flexibility on the nuclear dossier at a later stage — a reversal from the position held a day earlier.

Also in this episode: why Iran has shut Omani territorial waters to transiting ships and taken control of the whole strait; why Pakistan has refused to enforce US secondary sanctions on Iran — described here as a first in its history — alongside coordinated foreign-ministry pushback from Russia and China; the role of former Pakistani army chief Raheel Sharif in carrying the framework to Riyadh and onward to Washington; the 40 million Pakistani Shias offered to Tehran as a guarantee of good faith; and the 60-to-90-day framework of indirect talks and cessation of hostilities now under discussion, with Pakistan as mediator and Qatar as the financial channel. Islamabad and Switzerland are both being pushed as the signing venue.

Pepe Escobar is a veteran geopolitical correspondent who has covered Eurasian politics and energy for decades; Zulfiqar Ali reports from direct contacts across the Pakistani and Iranian political and military leadership. Claims sourced to those contacts are marked DEVELOPING on screen and are not independently verified. Transition Protocol is a source-driven geopolitics channel covering de-dollarization, BRICS, the multipolar order and the financial consequences of global power shifts. Subscribe for the follow-up the moment the joint statement lands. 

Larry Johnson | Just In: White House Defies June Iran Terms – Trump Still Hunting for a 'Win' | Aug. 27, 2026

Source: Dialogue Works youtube



Description:
Dialogue Works discusses: Larry Johnson: Just In: White House Defies June Iran Terms – Trump Still Hunting for a 'Win'. 

Seyed M. Marandi | Iran and Oman Announce Hormuz Deal - What Does This Mean for Trump’s ‘Economic Onslaught’ | Aug. 27, 2026

Source: Channel 4 News youtube



Description:
Pakistan is the latest country to hit back after the White House threatened countries who trade with Iran. China has already said it won’t be taking orders from America. So is this another failed bid by Donald Trump to bend Iran and its backers to his will?

Or could this actually work? Several senior Iranian leaders have recently acknowledged the economic pain that the country and its people are feeling. 

 
On this episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Mohammed Marandi, a professor at Tehran University and a former adviser to Iran’s nuclear negotiating team to get a view from inside Iran.

Pepe Escobar | 'Just Trying to Hang On': Adviser Leaks Trump’s Desperate Iran Strategy Before Midterms | Aug. 27, 2026

Source: Dialogue Works youtube



Description: 

Pepe Escobar on Dialogue Works with Nima Alkhorshid.

Pepe Escobar & Larry Johnson | Hormuz Deal in 24 Hours? Iran–US Deal: Sequencing Agreed SANCTIONS LIFTED | Aug. 27, 2026

Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
A source described by Zulfiqar Ali as the person drafting a Pakistani announcement says Iran and the United States have agreed on a contemporaneous first step: a controlled reopening of the Strait of Hormuz alongside U.S. sanctions and naval-blockade relief.

That claim is not yet publicly corroborated. What is verified is that Pakistan’s mediation channel is active, Iran and Oman are working on a temporary maritime corridor, Hormuz remains severely disrupted, and Washington has just intensified sanctions pressure.

In this urgent Transition Protocol conversation, Pepe Escobar and Larry C. Johnson stress-test the reported Trump–Iran off-ramp: who moves first, what “simultaneous” action would actually mean, whether a 60–90 day indirect process exists, how an oil and fuel shock changes Washington’s choices, and why Trump—or a third-party spoiler—could still collapse the window. The central question is not whether officials sound hopeful. It is whether reciprocal action becomes observable.

Zulfiqar Ali brings source-based reporting from Pakistani and Iranian contacts; Pepe Escobar and former CIA analyst Larry C. Johnson provide geopolitical and security analysis. Transition Protocol is a source-driven geopolitical and economic analysis channel focused on evidence, power shifts, and real-world consequences. Source claims in this episode are identified as developing or uncorroborated where appropriate.