Iran just foiled Trump's strike plan as Israel prepares for total war amid hysteria that a surprise attack is coming to Tel Aviv. KJ Noh joins Danny Haiphong to break down the myth from the reality.
Riyadh called Beijing. Trump called Putin for diesel. Nobody's coming to save Saudi Arabia — except 110 Americans.
("110 Americans in the Saudi war room" is per Transition Protocol's Pakistani military sources.) Here is why nobody is coming, what Beijing will actually do, and what the Russian diesel deal is really for — from a man who has lived in Beijing for almost three decades.
Einar Tangen joins host Zulfiqar Ali from Beijing as Houthi missiles hit Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport again.
Riyadh's calls: according to Transition Protocol's Pakistani military sources, 110 Americans were in the Saudi war room during the bombardment of Ansar Allah positions, even as Trump told Riyadh he wanted no new war. Pakistan will guard the holy sites only.
Beijing's answer: "very little," in Tangen's assessment — China will police dual-use parts flowing to the Houthis, will not arm anyone, and cannot project force from its single base in Djibouti. Reuters reported on 17 September that Saudi Arabia appealed to Beijing and that China privately urged Iran to rein in the Houthis.
Iran's choice: our sources say Tehran told Pakistani mediators it would not restrain the Houthis — it wanted Saudi losses.
The October surprise: why the Russian diesel deal (1.8 million tonnes from October to December) covers only days of US demand, and what Tangen thinks it is really for.
A gateway to a wider war? "Unfortunately, I do." And two ways this ends.
Sourcing note: "110 Americans" and the Iran–Pakistan exchange are the host's own reporting from Pakistani sources. Tangen's remark about discussions of tactical nuclear weapons has not been independently confirmed. On air, a figure of "510 to 525 million tons" of daily US diesel use is a misstatement; the US uses roughly half a million tonnes of distillate a day (EIA).
Larry Johnson on reports that Yemeni forces struck two Aramco headquarters in Saudi Arabia and published footage of a hit on a Saudi Typhoon, described as the second fighter jet after an F-15. He also recounts speaking at a Russian-chaired UN Security Council session in New York on civilian casualties in Ukraine, and says the US tone toward Russia has softened.
Patrick Henningsen and Daniel Davis break down the stunning developments in the Saudi-Yemen war that have the US AND Israel moving toward all out war. Meanwhile, Yemen and Iran have both stepped up their strike targets dramatically as Riyadh burns overnight and a record number of tankers get taken out in the Strait of Hormuz.
What does all of this mean from both a military and geopolitical perspective? We traverse the biggest flashpoints in the ongoing war between US-led unipolarity and the rising multipolar world now finding big momentum in West Asia.
Missile threats are grounding flights and closing skies across the Gulf. What does this mean for the region? After repeated warnings, Yemeni missiles struck Terminal 3 & 4 of the King Khalid Airport in Riyadh, as Sana'a imposes the same reality on Saudi Arabia as it has endured since 2015.
On this episode of The Target, Robert Inlakesh provides a comprehensive breakdown of the latest Middle East developments. As the U.S. intensifies military and economic pressure on Tehran, Iran has carved a new strategy in the Strait of Hormuz, Israeli security officials are preparing for the possibility of Iranian retaliation as they prepare for renewed strikes and deploy additional air defense batteries to the greater Tel Aviv area. Plans to target Iran's critical national and energy infrastructure, following a call between Netanyahu and Trump.
Meanwhile, with Saudi Arabia's King Khalid International Airport closed and the EU and FAA issuing stark airspace warnings, the logistical toll of the conflict in Yemen is mounting. Saudi airspace is effectively shutting down as repeated missile and drone attacks on major airports in Riyadh and Jeddah force massive flight cancellations and trigger severe international aviation warnings.
On the ground, Yemen's armed forces are dealing unprecedented blows to Saudi-backed PLC forces & capturing even more territory.
Jeffrey Sachs tells Judge Napolitano that Ansarallah has hit Saudi oil fields, the Red Sea, and the airport in Riyadh, and that US weapons have not stopped it. On Trump, he says a November election that costs the president control of Congress would drain his power and shift attention to 2028, without stopping what Sachs calls reckless behavior.
Pepe Escobar breaks down Trump secretly deploying US Navy SEALs to the region as Iran blitzes the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen's fierce resistance to US-Saudi aggression has led to major strikes on Riyadh's airports. Trump is now seriously considering a US intervention into the Yemen front, even as his administration struggles to stop Iran from shutting down the Strait of Hormuz.
While they discuss diesel deal, SMO goes on, as does West's collapse. Martyanov says the US lifting of sanctions on Russian diesel, with no Kremlin concessions, is a drop in the bucket that the media turned into a major story, and that the constraint remains two nuclear superpowers.
Warwick Powell on Transition Protocol. The United States can't win the Iran war, and can't walk away from it. Powell explains the Vietnam-era trap Washington is in, and why Iran is ready for what comes next.
He argues the US cannot concede on the Strait of Hormuz, and that prestige, not ego, keeps Washington in the war. Vietnam-era logic, he says, pushes a losing war onto the next president. On 8 October, Trump posted there would be no attack on Iran before the 3 November midterms. Powell also covers the cost at home in diesel, freight, and power bills, and Australia's AUKUS dilemma.
Timeline:
00:15:08 The decent interval
00:22:43 They want a grand invasion — the host's sources in Tehran
00:42:27 Can America defend the Pacific?
Episode 2203. Trump and Putin have struck a surprise diesel deal, and Zelensky is furious, calling the US president weak. Alex breaks down the 90 minute Trump Putin phone call, the Russian diesel sanctions waiver running until April, what each side really gets out of it and why Europe was left out of the room, plus Merz versus Schroeder, Trump's Nobel Peace Prize snub and new US sanctions on the ICC. Is this the first real crack in the collective West sanctions wall, or just a midterm talking point?
Timeline:
00:00:00 Zelensky calls Trump weak
00:01:25 How big is the diesel deal really
00:03:14 Trump's Truth Social announcement
00:04:35 The 90 minute Trump Putin phone call
00:05:50 What Trump gets from the deal
00:07:30 What Putin gets, sanctions waiver until April
00:12:39 Refinery strikes send a message to Russia
00:15:10 Witkoff and Kushner brief Ukraine in Miami
00:19:20 Putin on resuming negotiations
00:21:59 Russia offers Iran uranium solution
00:23:14 Zelensky meltdown and Europe's anger
00:26:54 Zelensky vs Klitschko
00:28:53 Merz angry at Schroeder over Putin visit
00:31:24 Brussels protests, Nobel Prize snub, ICC sanctions
00:36:40 Clown World
The Houthis are advancing in Yemen and Saudi Arabia is facing its most dangerous crisis in a century. With Taiz reportedly encircled, MBS pleading for ground troops that Turkey, Pakistan and Syria will not send, and Trump still undecided on a new Iran operation, they argue the real Middle East flashpoint is no longer Iran or Hormuz but the stability of the Saudi kingdom itself. Can diplomacy with the US, Russia and China save MBS, or did his bet on Trump over BRICS cost him everything?
Timeline:
00:00:00 Iran, Yemen and reports of a new US operation
00:00:48 Hormuz tightens and the drift to confrontation
00:02:58 Yemen is the real crisis as Houthis advance
00:03:58 MBS needs boots on the ground
00:04:56 Taiz cauldron and the threat to Saudi stability
00:06:13 Would the US be forced to intervene
00:09:11 No diplomacy and an absent Rubio
00:10:47 How MBS failed to hedge
00:14:26 Can a deal with the Houthis save Saudi Arabia
00:15:53 Economic pressure on Iran and US bond yields
Pepe Escobar and Larry Johnson with Zulfiqar Ali on Transition Protocol. A senior source in Pakistan's military establishment told the show, in answer to five questions, that no Pakistani aircraft entered Yemeni airspace — "None. Zero." — and that the foreigners inside Saudi Arabia's war are mostly American: 110 American advisors, two Pakistani radar specialists and two Turkish technicians.
CNN has separately reported more than 100 US military advisers supporting the Saudi campaign. On 8 October Pakistan's Information Ministry called a New York Times report of Pakistani jets "fake and fabricated". The source says every Pakistani unit is around Mecca and Medina, under Pakistani command, not Najran.
Escobar says any move toward the border would make Pakistani forces "legitimate targets". Also Saudi Arabia's money, Trump's pause on Iran until after 3 November, and what a senior Iranian source told the host two hours before recording.
The five answers and the 110 / 2 / 2 figures come from that Pakistani military source. The Iranian remarks are a senior Iranian source speaking to the host. Larry Johnson's account of damage at Abqaiq and on the East–West pipeline has not been independently confirmed.
Episode 2044. Kiev has been plunged into darkness after Russian drones knocked out the Kievska substation, halting the metro and disrupting the sewage system. Alexander analyses the campaign against Kiev's bridges, power grid and SBU sites, graphics of Zelensky's bunker now circulating online, Zelensky's complaints that Europe and the United States are abandoning Ukraine, and the collapse of the Kharkov cauldron as Russian forces advance in Sumy and Donbass. Europe is refusing to hand over its last air defenses, and diplomacy is at a dead end.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Kiev under a cat and mouse campaign
00:01:07 Bridges and SBU sites targeted
00:03:35 Kievska substation knocked out
00:05:26 Blackout, metro stops and sewage problems
00:07:13 Railways and the locomotive shortage
00:10:37 SBU strikes and control of Kiev
00:13:20 Zelensky bunker graphics appear online
00:16:20 Is Surovikin in charge
00:17:27 How long can Kiev go on
00:22:38 Signs of another massive strike
00:24:56 Zelensky blames Europe and the US
00:27:28 Europe refuses to hand over air defenses
00:33:28 Will Western embassies leave Kiev
00:36:09 Zaporozhye airstrikes and FAB 3000 bombs
00:41:58 Yevkurov says the old limits are gone
00:50:10 Dobropillia, Druzhkovka and Vivaldi failure
00:52:51 Kharkov cauldron collapses, Sumy advances
00:58:22 Diplomacy is over as Peskov agrees with Rubio
01:06:28 Gaza anniversary, Hormuz and Trump's Iran pledge
01:09:15 Yemen, MBS and rising energy prices
Episode 2202. Putin hosts Schroeder in Moscow on his birthday, and Alex asks whether he was sent to pitch a winter ceasefire. Surovikin is back, with Kiev's bridges as the target, and Klitschko says the city is in survival mode. Kushner and Witkoff meet the Ukraine team in Miami while Rubio and Peskov describe a diplomatic stalemate. Trump says there will be no Iran strike before the midterms. Also Hormuz oil and tanker strikes, Jolani weighing troops for Yemen, and Burnham answering a fuel crisis with Google Maps.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Trump on Clinton, Biden and Obama
00:00:50 Putin hosts Schroeder on his birthday
00:02:45 Was Schroeder sent to pitch a winter ceasefire
00:04:10 Kushner and Witkoff meet Ukraine team in Miami
00:09:40 Rubio and Peskov see a diplomatic stalemate
00:11:03 Surovikin returns to target Kiev bridges
00:14:30 Klitschko says Kiev is in survival mode
00:16:20 Trump says no Iran strike before midterms
00:18:45 Hormuz oil flows and tanker strikes
00:22:08 Jolani weighs sending troops to Yemen
00:24:10 Burnham answers fuel crisis with Google Maps
00:27:20 Pentagon may livestream Hasan execution
00:28:50 Clown World: superintelligence post and EU Trump statue
00:31:50 WSJ on Guilfoyle Amex request
All 32 NATO military chiefs just made a rushed trip to Kiev, and Alex explains why that signals panic as Operation Vivaldi fizzles near Lyman and the front line keeps slipping. Alex breaks down the reported Witkoff, Kushner and Dmitriev plan for the United States to run Russian gas through Nord Stream to Germany, Russia's new Rassvet rival to Starlink, the Houthis closing in on Taiz while blasts hit Riyadh, and Marco Rubio's Acropolis speech in Athens. With Trump weighing strikes on Iran, how much longer can the collective West hold all of this together?
Timeline:
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:18 NATO military chiefs make rushed trip to Kiev
00:03:15 All 32 NATO representatives meet Syrskyi
00:06:12 Operation Vivaldi fizzles near Lyman
00:08:29 NATO drone and AI plan for the eastern flank
00:10:15 Ukraine drone strike on Yandex data center
00:12:09 US plan to run Russian gas through Nord Stream
00:15:39 Trump and Putin birthday call does not happen
00:16:04 Rassvet, Russia's rival to Starlink
00:18:56 Houthis close in on Taiz as Riyadh is hit
00:21:48 Trump weighs strikes on Iran
00:24:14 US 10 year yield tops 5.35 percent
00:24:49 Rubio's Acropolis speech and Greece deals
00:28:55 South Korea recalls ambassador to Ukraine
00:29:51 Clown World: Lithuania sends 100 soldiers to Kaliningrad border
Iran's leaders say they expect a U.S. attack and are ready for it, according to Zulfiqar Ali's contacts in Tehran and Islamabad.
Pepe Escobar puts a "possibility of some sort of adventure" in the next few days at roughly 20–30%, and "nearly 100% certainty" of a U.S. move after the midterms, four weeks away.
In this episode of The Week Ahead, recorded Sunday 4 October 2026, Zulfiqar Ali reports what he says he was told by people making decisions in Tehran and Islamabad: that the civilian and military leadership expect an attack; that Iran says it has stocked food, medicine and housing for at least six months; that Russia, China and Pakistan are helping; and that Iran's targeting is "locked in."
Pepe Escobar, speaking from Thailand, explains the offer he says Iran put on the table through Qatar, what he says Xi Jinping offered Washington and how he expects China to reply, why he says diplomacy is dead for now, and how he reads the odds.
Geopolitical analyst Patrick Henningsen joins the show to discuss Trump's imminent operation against Iran that no one is talking about, and why the US and Israel are finding themselves on the path to escalation despite the mounting consequences of nearly 8 months of war.
Jiang Xueqin, host of Predictive History, tells Glenn Diesen that the West's political crisis is a contest among globalists, nationalists, an AI oligarchy, and Zionist factions around Trump.
He argues that a wider war would more likely be traced to the Houthi-Saudi conflict in Yemen than to a direct clash between the United States and Iran, because the Houthis are not constrained the way state actors are.
Episode 2197. Merz makes a surprise train trip to Kiev with his CDU polling at a historic low, and Alex asks whether the real purpose is a Taurus missile rebranded as a Ukrainian long range weapon. As Russia hits Kiev's bridges again, a strategy Alexander flagged months ago, Zelensky promises retaliation on Russian refineries while the New York Times reports Putin raised a 20 billion dollar Lukoil asset sale with Witkoff and Kushner involving investors tied to Trump allies. Is this escalation, a business deal, or both at once?
Timeline:
00:00:00 Merz surprise train trip to Kiev
00:04:47 Taurus missiles rebranded as FP9?
00:06:06 Russia warns diplomats, Kiev bridges hit again
00:07:45 Pontoon bridge and tunnel plans
00:10:27 Zelensky tells Reuters retaliation is coming
00:15:30 Trump allies and the Lukoil assets deal
00:22:36 EU natural gas prices surge
00:23:20 Zelensky and the EU 90 billion loan
00:26:07 Houthis claim Aramco refinery strike in Riyadh
00:27:40 G7 releases 100 million barrels
00:30:20 Spain housing protests
00:32:45 Brazil election first round
00:33:50 Bosnia and Latvia elections
00:35:35 Clown World: Sandu warns Finland
00:38:10 FlyDubai co pilot crash axe update
