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Showing posts with label Pepe Escobar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pepe Escobar. Show all posts

Pepe Escobar | MBS wanted Pakistan’s army. Pakistan won’t join Saudi Arabia’s war on the Houthis | Sept. 29, 2026

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Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
Pakistan will not fight Saudi Arabia’s war against Ansarallah (the Houthis) in Yemen — that is the answer Transition Protocol received from sources at the highest levels in Islamabad. And, per the host’s sources, Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir told MBS that Saudi Arabia would be spared Iranian strikes only if it kept its territory out of any US attack on Iran.

Pepe Escobar and Zulfiqar Ali on the deadline week: Iran’s 30 September marker, Netanyahu’s unannounced flight to Abu Dhabi to meet MBZ, the off-ramp Escobar says Xi Jinping offered Trump in the Oval Office, and the “November non-surprise” — the war Escobar expects after the US midterms if Washington says no again.

Sourcing note: Pakistan’s decision and the Munir–MBS exchange are reported from Transition Protocol’s sources and have not been independently confirmed; publicly, Saudi Arabia says joint efforts with Pakistan under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement continue. The host describes the agreement as tentative and still being negotiated. Netanyahu’s 27 September visit to Abu Dhabi was confirmed by UAE state media and his office. Forecasts in this episode are the speakers’ analysis 

Johnson, Escobar & Viktor Bout | Russia's big Arctic bet: what's being built in the North — International "National Unity Club" | Sept. 29, 2026

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Source: International "National Unity Club" youtube



Description:
Larry Johnson welcomes Pepe Escobar and Viktor Bout on the International Unity Club. Bout, back from 12 Russian regions, says voters are focused on the conflict with the collective West on Ukrainian territory, and on the everyday problems he heard from business people, students, and families.

On the Arctic, Johnson names four openings: the northern transport corridor, fisheries, oil and gas, and rare earth minerals. He says U.S. academics could not agree which should come first, and that the United States has only two old diesel icebreakers. Bout says the priority is the Northern Sea Route. 

Russia has been building icebreakers and ports from Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, opening regions such as the Yamal gas fields. He argues Siberia and the North are part of Russia, harsh to live in, and that only Russia is in a position to develop them while keeping the languages and way of life of the northern peoples. 

Pepe Escobar | US Bomber Attack Foiled? Iran Hammers US Warship, 8 Marines Hit | Sep. 28, 2026

Labels , , , , Source: Danny Haiphong youtube



Description: 
Pepe Escobar discusses breaking developments including Iran's role in the US RAF Base attack that targeted US B-1 bombers and the bombshell report that US marines suffered massive casualties in a recent strike plus what it all means for the multipolar world.

Pepe Escobar | Iran’s Next Front Is the Indian Ocean and Clock Starts This Week,Naval Breakout Next? | Sept. 27, 2026

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Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
Iran is prepared to take the war beyond the Strait of Hormuz and into the Indian Ocean if nothing moves this week — that is what Pepe Escobar’s contacts and three separate decision-level sources in Tehran are telling Transition Protocol. Here is the way out Washington did not take, the deadlines that start the clock, and who will and will not fight.

In the first edition of THE WEEK AHEAD, Pepe Escobar — speaking from Bangkok at 1 a.m. Monday — joins host Zulfiqar Ali to map the seven days that could decide the Iran war.

— Xi’s off-ramp: according to Escobar, Xi Jinping told Trump face to face to go back to the memorandum both sides signed. Chinese state media reported Xi backed a return to the June 17 Islamabad memorandum.

— The clock: Mohsen Rezaei’s four-to-five-day window runs out Monday 28 September; Wednesday 30 September is a second deadline, as Escobar describes it.

— Hormuz on Iran’s terms: pay the fee, get IRGC Navy clearance — or be attacked.
— Yemen: the Saudi strike on a market in Taiz, and what comes next.
— Pakistan’s answer: will Islamabad join a Saudi–Pakistani–Turkish campaign against Yemen? The host’s sources say no. On Tuesday he brings the answer from a decision-maker. 

Pepe Escobar | Iran’s Hormuz Offer: 3 Conditions, 7 Days, Sep 30 Deadline. Xi Gave Trump One Way Out | Sep. 25, 2026

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Description: 
Iran has reportedly put a conditional offer on the table for reopening the Strait of Hormuz — but the proposal comes with terms, a seven-day sequence, and a September 30 deadline. 

In this emergency briefing, Pepe Escobar breaks down the reported New York diplomatic channel, the conditions tied to the Strait of Hormuz, China’s reported message to Donald Trump, the aviation-ban confrontation, the Red Sea front, and the parallel military and diplomatic tracks.

This episode distinguishes on-record analysis, attributed reporting, source-based claims, and forecasts. Claims about an Iranian offer, China’s position, and regional alignment are presented as statements made in the conversation unless independently confirmed in the final edit. Viewer judgment matters: which track is moving faster, diplomacy or escalation, and who blinks first?

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

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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."

Larry Johnson & Pepe Escobar | BRICS Is Changing from Within: China–India Clash of Interests — International "National Unity Club" | Sept. 23, 2026

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Source: International "National Unity Club" youtube



Description:
From Moscow, Larry Johnson and Pepe Escobar argue that BRICS is splitting from within. Escobar says India and the UAE kept the New Delhi declaration from condemning the war on Iran, even as it denounced secondary sanctions. 

He says Narendra Modi accused China in a closed session of weaponizing rare earths, and that Xi Jinping then skipped the gala. BRICS Pay, he adds, is still only an India-Russia trial, and Sergey Lavrov's refusal of a secretariat leaves clashes such as India-China and UAE-Iran unmanaged. Johnson floats a tighter core of Russia, Iran, and China. Escobar traces the group instead to Yevgeny Primakov's 1998 Russia-India-China idea, and Johnson says Moscow has ended India's oil discount. 

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

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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. 

Pepe Escobar | Saudi Arabia Is Boxed In.The Yemen Intel They Won't Reveal.Yemen Put Saudi on Back Foot | Sept. 17, 2026

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Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
Iran holds the Strait of Hormuz. Yemen’s forces now hold the Bab al-Mandab. Saudi Arabia is boxed in on both coasts — and Transition Protocol says it knows why Yemen went all-in.

Recorded after midnight in Moscow, Pepe Escobar and Zulfiqar Ali (Mr. Z) break down five interlocking developments: the quiet understanding between Ansarallah and the White House behind Trump’s “the Houthis called us”; CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper’s meeting with MBS in Jeddah; the postponed Iran–Gulf Hormuz talks that Iran blames on Riyadh; the UAE’s surprise BRICS sit-down with President Pezeshkian; and Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi’s talks with Wang Yi in Beijing.

The hosts also say they hold information — which they say was confirmed at senior levels in Tehran and Islamabad — explaining the ferocity of Yemen’s offensive. They explain on air why they are not releasing the details yet.

Also: diesel at the $9.99 pump limit in California, who turned down MBS’s requests for help, Yemen’s next moves on Taiz and Marib, and Pepe Escobar’s scenarios for Saudi Arabia.

Guest statements about sources, intelligence and future events are the speakers’ own reporting and analysis and are labelled as such on screen.

Support independent analysis: subscribe to Transition Protocol on Substack (same name). New: Friday Fire with Pepe Escobar, every Friday. 

Pepe Escobar | MBS Called Trump Twice Trump Said No.Saudi Oil Is Trapped Saudia Has Nowhere To Run | Transition Protocol | Sept. 14, 2026

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Source: Transition Protocol youtube



Description:
Pepe Escobar, past midnight in Moscow, on the week the map flipped. Saudi Arabia's Hormuz-bypass pipeline is shut after drone strikes. Yemen's Ansarallah took the entire west coast and the Bab al-Mandeb island of Mayun. MBS called Trump twice asking for strikes on the Houthis and was refused, as reported by Axios and Reuters. Pakistan says no military response was discussed under the Makkah pact. Monday, Iran meets Gulf states in Muscat on Hormuz — with Bahrain already out.

Also in this episode: BRICS New Delhi's unanimous line on sanctions; Pepe vs. the host on whether Iran can "declare victory"; and a sourced, not independently confirmed report from the host's contacts that Pakistan's Asim Munir is working a back channel between Iran and the Gulf at Iran's unofficial request. Pepe's "20 to 2" doctrine line and his account of UAE participation on Feb 28 are his reading and are not independently verified. 

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

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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.

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

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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 

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

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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. 

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

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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. 

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