Pepe Escobar: Yemen Joins the War, and the Entire Middle East Could Go Up in Flames
Glenn Diesen
Jul 14, 2026
Pepe Escobar discusses the escalations and widening of the war against Iran, which now threatens to set the entire Middle East in flames. Escobar is a journalist, a political analyst, and author.
Transcript
Welcome back to the program. Today we are joined by Pepe Escobar, a journalist and political analyst to discuss what appears to be the entire Middle East
being thrown into massive conflict. Uh, thank you for coming back on. We see now, yeah, the US and Iran appear at
least to be move moving back towards allout war. The Iranians are considering pulling out of the memorandum of understanding completely. Yemen is
striking Saudi Arabia. Iran apparently striking Saudi Arabia. Yemen might also
shut down the Red Sea. Uh well, essentially the whole region appears
possibly to be plunged into uh one big fire. And uh even now we see some
attacks from Iraqi uprisings against Kuwaitis on the other side of the
border. I mean uh this is yeah really doesn't look good. Uh what do you make of all of this? I'm sorry that's a lot
of things at once, but how how are you assessing the situation? We can go into the citics.
Glenn, I I love your diplomatic shorthand. It does not look good.
[laughter]
We could expand this to the whole planet. I love it because this is the it's the best definition of uh what lies
ahead. Yes, it's extremely distressing, predictable, but uh we we we knew this was going to
happen because essentially the American strategy at the moment they were trying to play divide and rule with the axis of
resistance and obviously you have the opposite uh effect. The axis of resistance is more and more
wellcoordinated including for instance Iraq and we could see that in terms last week the most
extraordinary funeral rights in living memory anywhere
2 minutesand they were uniting Shiites in Iran and in Iraq. So the level of of uh
understanding, grief, respect, uh national solidarity that we saw in Najaf and Carbala which
are two places where you step in Najaf and and Carbala, you feel how powerful
it is spiritually was totally coordinated to what we saw in Tehran, in K and in Mashad. So over 40 million
people altogether.
So, and this is something that I confirmed with some of our Iranian friends and they all say the same. Now,
there is a national consensus and it revolves around the notion the concept
not necessarily in pedestrian terms of revenge essentially. there is no possible accommodation with the Americans period.
And that's why if you if you talk to the average Iranian aboutou no run of understanding they all say no
they were trying to fool us and this consensus arrived at the top according to our best information
and this means the national security council this means not only the political factor includes presidentkin
Ishi galibah all these figures that are now well known all over the world but the top IRGC commanders. So what are
they going to do about it? So now they're going to this is exactly what they're doing now. They're playing Trump
and don't mess with the Persians. They know how to play anybody considering their dynastic history, all
the empires, all the invasions that they, you know, h how how do they control invasions and attacks,
how that this national solidarity coaleses into something very very strong and they get even more powerful. So the
most uh distressing aspect of it all for all of us who are following it is the escalation ladder is back. This is
something you and myself many others were predicting that it would happen.
But how far will this go?
and uh extra elements added one day uh after the other makes it makes the whole
thing even more volatile. For instance, we cannot say with 100% certainty that
Saudi Arabia attacked Yemen in Sana airport. This could have been a false flag. This could have been
a rogue uh organization, anything there's and the Saudis have been extremely circumspect
uh about it. But what's immensely interesting is that the Yemenes were
waiting for it essentially a few days before uh
when the Mahan air plane was approaching Sana International Airport which by the
way is practically destroyed by the Israelis last year. Uh it's where I landed when I went to Yemen last year
when the airport was still functioning and Yemen uh airways they still had three planes. These three planes were
later bombed by the Israelis. They have zero planes now. So this was Iran breaking the siege imposed on Yemen by
Saudi Arabia for 11 years. This was a huge huge thing. So the first Mahan air
flight went there to collect a Yemeni delegation to take them to Thran for the funeral ceremonies related to the burial of Ayatami.
And then there was this flight back from Tehran to S uh taking a lot of Yemenes
plus some other Yemenes who were in Thran etc. 250 people more or less was an air bus
filled to the brink. And when uh the Mahan airflight was approaching SAT uh there was a bombing of the runway. So
the pilot under extreme circumstances the guy was wow amazing stuff. So he did
a 90 degree turn uh before landing and he landed in Heda which is not an airport anymore because
Heda was also bombed by the Americans last year and by some uh I would say intervention from
above the runway of Heda finalized only a few days ago.
So that allowed the Mahan airflight to land in Hoda.
So it's not established if this was really a Saudi attack. This could have
been an attack and the most probable uh explanation, an attack from the puppet
government in Aden, the port in the south which is supported by Saudi Arabia. The problem is they don't have an air force and they don't have missiles.
So where where do the where do the planes and the missiles come from? The Yemenes uh they identified a military
base in Saudi Arabia saying look the the jets they took off from this uh um
military base. So they bombed a civilian airport and a military airport. So it's 2 to one and that's extraordinary.
Glenn, you remember that uh the Iranians took what two almost two months to do two to one against American attacks or
the Yemenist took one day and everybody understood the message. If you mess with them, it's going to be 2
to1 everywhere. And obviously the Saudis are now terrified. They don't know how to control that. If if this was really a
Saudi initiative, they boxed themselves in. So this is this is beyond stupid geopolitically
right and geoeconomically for them. If it was not who did it and what for?
Well, of course we know who might have done it. The usual suspects to once again uh divide and rule all across the
Arab world which is what they do everywhere. So this is just one detail among many and one day after another we
have these and there is always this lingering impression in the background that the Iranians are looking at all that and
they said yes we can um we can go for it because we have all the time in the world they the Americans they don't have it.
Well, I remember the first [clears throat] time around when we when well um when we were all in this war and it was well essentially an allout war,
it were still some um steps up that escalation ladder. So people were questioning whether or not Yemen would join in on the fight because that would
be quite detrimental. That is if you close off uh the the Red Sea, the problem in the Red Sea. Sure.
Yeah. But but now of course this is what's happening. And uh so it appears we might see an escalation far beyond
what we saw uh last time. And I was just wondering how do you see the significance of this? And also what is
the American thinking here? Because they you know now we're blocking off the Red Sea's blocked off and the Americans are now reimposing their blockade on the
straight of moose. They say Trump is a bit all over the place. He said all all ships should pay 20% fees to the United
States. uh who wants to transit through the straight of her moose. This is important for Trump because he wants to assert Iran doesn't control it. America is the you know in his words the guardian of the straight of her moose.
But now he's coming back and he's saying well we're we're not going to put the 20% fee anyways. I mean how is this from one day to another? Where's the
consistency? There's I mean this this can't be on purpose because why would you say this on day one if you're not going to follow through on day two? I
mean it's quite wild. But how do you see this shutting down all these key waterways? I mean, this is these are the arteries of international trade. This is what keeps the global economy alive.
What are they doing here?
Well, when it comes to the president of the United States, Glenn, he cannot follow what goes on in his brain from one second to another. He has no
strategy. He has no tactics. He doesn't read. He doesn't listen to anybody. He has no clue what he got himself in.
So it's obvious that from one day to another you have this completely absurd viferations on truth social
and that's a problem because he controls the new cycle people read this in the middle of the Sahara desert literally
everybody and then the talk is about a look at what he said today and he goes on so he manipulates the new cycle
everywhere but nobody is basically pointing to the He the heart of the
matter in fact no tactics no strategy he's cornered he's desperate he knows it
and there's no way out and the only offramp that he had which was offered by the mediators working 24/7 for weeks was
theou which by the way he signed officially his signature is there he signed it in Versai uh not very far from
where I am Well, that was obviously uh and that is now being identified for what it is by the
Iranian leadership, civilian and military. He was just playing for time.
The problem is he cannot play for time any longer because all those numbers about strate uh strategic petroleum
reserve there are all sorts of projections. I I received for instance one uh report a few week
uh 10 days ago or so. I wrote a column about that and this report was basically saying that the ultra ultra limit date
for mega red lies appearing is mid August. We are already mid July and there are some others who are saying
this could be between end of July and beginning of August. So he's fighting
against himself, against the American economy and against the global economy at the same time because he simply cannot think strategically. And of
course there's the ego element which absolutely uh it's the overarching
h imperative for Trump. He hates to be humiliated and he's being humiliated by
the strategic defeat which is the result of the war that he ordered. So can you imagine in the mind of a basically a for
a grown-up fouryear-old how does that feel?
And you can see in his uh inconsistencies in the you know the fits of you know
childish fits of rage as you mentioned no consistency whatsoever anything he
writes says etc bragging uh and of course uh
rage you can you can feel there's so much rage behind it. He has threatened to exterminate Iranian civilization at
least four or five times this past few weeks. seriously exterminate everything
literally you know uh and where is this leading and everybody that
has been try and everybody I mean literally everybody not only the Pakistani mediators but the Qataris the Turks the Egyptians everybody the Omanis
everybody who's been trying to okay we cannot allow theou to be derailed this is the last chance salute if this thing
is derailed then It's all out war. And here we are again in another escalation ladder uh provoked by him and discarding
the only possible uh mechanism that could give him a sort
of a relatively dignified exit if he follows at least the basic points of the 14point.
No, they broke almost everything.
o the Iranians they are looking at it and they said what's the point? Okay. So we we can and this is now the commitments now are bilateral. If they
break it we also break it. This is not unilateral anymore. So that's why there is this um
um it's practically a consensus among the top leadership in that there's no pointing about the ceasefire has already been broken. Theou is dead. That's it.
We should exit and do our own thing. But this is not a final decision and we are expecting some extra information between
today and tomorrow exactly let's say how much longer the Iranians
will tolerate uh American attacks and this is a key absolute key point because
publicly they have already said via members of the Maji some members of the security council if there is another uh American
attack, we exit the NPT and we all know what that means if that
happens. So this is already being discussed and there is already a a plan B for the Iranian leadership. Okay, we
exit the NPT. That's it. And there's nothing the Americans can do about that.
So this is something that Larry Johnson and myself were trying to get this sure fire confirmation
maximum tomorrow or by the end of the week. It's very complicated. The guy who passed this information to us is a guy
that is in the inner circle of a leader Maba Kame. That's why this is so so
important. But he but he told us via his uh uh intermediaries uh you should not
publish this as a fact. This is being considered but it's already in itself a bombshell
right and of course this may have leaked to uh war alago and Washington. So if can you imagine if that happens Glenn?
And in fact the whole um fiction that the the Americans have been trying to to sell domestically to the whole world
which is about the Iranian nuclear program collapses completely. We all know the real reason for the war especially since
the war went downhill from the beginning. control of oil checkpoints which they already lost. The US will
never control the straight of Hormuz again. This is really uh Iran's uh nuclear bomb.
They don't even need a nuclear program.
They already have a nuclear bomb which is the control of Horus. And that's what makes the fouryear-old president of the
United States even more desperate. He brought this on himself.
This the problem again. It be I know that this began as a war on to topple the Iranian government. Yeah. To destroy
either Iran or just put in a puppet government. So something along the lines of a Libya, Syria, but um but it's
changed fundamentally as you said. Now it's about who can control this key waterway, the threat of Hormuz. And it just it seems like there could be
win-win situations if there was some diplomatic efforts to establish some kind of a yeah administrative body. But
but but it just seems to me at least impression I get from Iran these days is that they don't think diplomacy is possible anymore because as well
essentially they're dealing with savages. And I don't use that word lightly but what what I mean is they're their opponent they're doing you know
mass murder of civilians. uh they backed the essentially evil genocide in Gaza.
19 minutesAs you said, they regularly threaten to exterminate a nation of 93 million people. This is quite the extreme
behavior and at the same time there's no possibility of actually talking and having diplomacy. I mean they've made diplomatic deals. They had the JCPOA.
The Americans didn't implement their side and then they walked away. Then they had two wars within 6 months
between uh well yeah about 6 months in which uh they were supposed to be closed a deal which they just you know
essentially used it to trick the Iranians to put down get their guard down so they can do surprise attacks.
Now you have theou even as it was signed Trump suggested it wasn't about any reparations you know and he was
threatening to attack them again all these things which were violated while he was signing it. I mean it it you know
if you also put in the wider context what's happening around the world this is you know what you see with the war on Russia as well in 2014 you saw the
Europeans agreeing to unity government they they just walked away from that you know hours later when they toppled the
government you saw them signing the Minsk agreement which was just a effort to buy time now they're talking about let's have a ceasefire to the end the
war they're already openly speaking among themselves yet now then we can replenish uh Ukraine with missiles. We
can uh you know build up the military again. We can move NATO troops into Ukraine. So no one's looking for peace.
It's always diplomacy is just a game. So you have this savagery on a whole new level. Diplomacy is dead. Surely the
Chinese must be observing this as well reaching the conclusion that uh you know from now on might is right. There is no
there is no international law. There's no rules. there's no diplomatic there's not any deals we can sign which were actually lay the rules for how nations
can interact. This is um extremely dangerous though and it it's just hard
to see how the world will look like after this war. But but on that do we see any pathway here? I mean no not with
the Americans because no one will trust what they're signing anyways. I think everyone who looked when they signed theou and then wrote it and then sorry
read it they knew that the Americans were not going to implement this. They weren't going to pay 300 billion. They were not going to unfreeze the sanctions. they weren't going to, you
know, I mean, and the sanctions unfreeze all the assets of Iran. I mean, there was nonsense. But, but are there any other deals you see possible? Like, can
after this war, Oman and Iran, for example, come to an agreement or would they have to wrestle themselves out of
the, you know, the the control of the United States first?
Well, there are, let's say, uh, not an overall overarching agreement. It's impossible because that would involve
the United States and we both agree according to our good friend Sergey Labra that the United States is
nonaggreement capable and they have been proven it over and over again but in
West Asia yes because in West Asia the main players they want some sort of new
accommodation. The problem is how they're going to deal with the Americans.
For instance, the Pakistanis, they are involved in the mitigation for several reasons, but one of them is their own
security from South Asia to West Asia and the possibility that they can be the
providers of a new security umbrella to West Asia because of the military pack they already have with Saudi Arabia. So
for instance uh a few weeks ago Munir went to Riad to basically resolidify
their military pact basically telling MBS in person look uh if you're looking for a new uh security architecture in
West Asia we are your guys and you know it. So how are they going to pull that
off? And of course to tell that to NBS they had to tell the Iranians first.
First first of all because they were intermediating between the Iranians and the Americans. Second very very good
relations between the top leadership in Islamabad and for instance when uh Munir goes to Thran he talks to leader Mhtava face to face.
There are very few people anywhere including from inside Iran that can do that.
The Pakistanis, you know, in the the whole Switzerland Kabuki, the Pakistanis offered security for the Iranians. We
Larry and I were reported about that in detail.
And the information that we have from the people in the on the table fact the mediators is that look everybody wants
some sort of deal whatever that is. The problem is of course how can you convince Trump that a deal is good for
him because of his uh megalog maniac narcissism.
So if there is no deal with the Americans, there is quite possible that there will be a deal in terms of a new security architecture which would
involve Pakistan as the coordinator. Uh Saudi Arabia, Qatar would jump in eventually later some other GCC members.
The UAE is a basket case. The mediators for instance they told us that the UAE it's going to happen but it's going to
take at least a few months to convince them that you know this is the the way history is is going and of course Turkey
supports that very very important and Egypt could be part of that security umbrella as well. So this is a
possibility and all these uh uh players involved in these negotiations this is what they want the pro everybody knows
uh what would that entail uh renewed American fury but what can what would the Americans do bomb Riad well they
could [laughter] nothing is outside of the realm of the possible when you you're thinking about
Trump and uh Sandcom at the moment but uh depending on how this will be this
will depend on how Saudi will maneuver but now we have we coming back to the beginning of our conversation now we
have this Saudi Yemen immense problem resurfacing in the
middle of all that which is the last thing that the Saudis need at the moment and that's why uh you know some of us
were thinking This has to have been a false flag because it goes against Saudi interests
26 minutesto go against Yemen now at the moment knowing that Yemen they have the missiles that count. They can block the
Bab al-Mandab. They can attack the Yamu pipeline. They can block the Red Sea. You name it.
So why do it now? It makes absolutely no sense. Obviously the American spin which
you see in those uh IDF MOSAD things in the US posing as journalism is that uh
NBS uh was under pressure by Trump or vice versa. MBS called Trump and I said
look there is a problem with Yemen. Do you allow me to b their airport? Which is completely absurd.
So we still don't know the origin of this bombing of Sana airrop because this turns the whole thing upside down all
over again in fact and to the detriment of Saudi interests.
It makes no sense whatsoever. Right? And considering that uh the Saudis from the
beginning they were part of this GCC block that wanted some sort of accommodation with Iran. The you
remember Glenn that the first Islamabad meeting way before the Islamabad actual meeting where Vance came from the US and
Galibbah came from Thran was uh Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt. This was the beginning of it all.
And then of course the Pakistan went to China. They talked to W one said look guys you have to do better than that and
that culminated in the Islamabad 1.0 meeting face to face or almost face to face because they never talked to each
other. So Saudi Arabia has been involved from the beginning in let's call it the
peace process and the MU. Why would they blow it up by attacking Yemen out of the blue like this?
Yeah. Know it is strange. And do you do you have do you have a theory about that or h how would you interpret it?
I don't know. It is hard to see why it would make sense. I mean, you know, when people look at the map of the Middle East, they see this huge Saudi Arabia
and this tiny Yemen below. But uh but again it doesn't that that doesn't mean anything that is for first of all that you know the Saudi Arabia I think they
got like 38 million people Yemen has more than 40. So Yemen is actually a larger population but in Saudi Arabia as well about 40% of those are foreign
nationals. You know they're not Yeah. So so they're the ones who can leave if things becomes too unstable. So really you know the Saudis have like 23
million. Yemenes has almost twice the population and they have also very young population. They've been also massacred
now for what since 2015. So they've been uh you know so they're battleh hardened.
They you know they're ready. And furthermore you know as you said it's it doesn't make any sense for Saudi Arabia because uh all of their energy
facilities or many of them are uh you know within reach of Yemen's drones. Yemen. Yes.
And and they can shut down the Red Sea.
I mean, if you're Saudi Arabia, you can you can transit through the straight of Hormuz or the Red Sea. If you're going to make enemy out of both sides, shut down both of these maritime corridors.
You, you know, you can have your energy fields destroyed. You can have your uh you know, the arteries you need to to sell your oil can be shut down. I mean,
none of this makes much sense. So I don't know why they would go all in on on this war but uh no it's um it is
strange but uh but but but the conflict is also taking a much wider not just the conflict now between Yemen and Saudi
Arabia as I said the whole region is being set on fire but only within the last we see in Kuwait been hit Qatar Bahrain Jordan I mean what we're
seeing is missile systems being destroyed radars you know the drone command and control. Uh it's quite extensive though what the Iranians are
hitting now. So I mean h how are you seeing this the development there on the battlefield because if the US decides okay this is
too much let's go back to diplomacy. I mean I I can't imagine why why the Iranians would accept this. They know what diplomacy means. It means you know
the Americans you know string them along. They you know they the buildups of missiles again prepare for another
strike. It just seems that the hawks in Iran were proven right. There won't be any peace. Any diplomacy is just a
fraud. Something to Yeah. trick the Iranians so America can regroup and strike again from a more favorable
vantage point. I I just How do you see this war possibly spreading? because uh sorry there's a lot of questions here but again you see Saudi Arabia you see
Yemen I as I said earlier you see now fighting of some Iraqi militia on the border of Kuwait I've heard people like
Mandi say that at end of this war Kuwait might not be an independent country anymore a lot of things it will bring to Iraq in fact
yeah I'm just wondering how do you see the again we don't have a crystal ball there's too many variables to make any clear predictions but but we do see some
movements of possible directions that the region could shape by now.
Well, what's striking, Glenn, is how realist the the Iranian top brass have
been. Uh there is a lot of spin in America media once again that ah there's division at the top. This is
This is something that we can reconfirm with our Iranian friends and sources.
No, there are two vectors. One is the diplomatic uh negotiations on the table
vector where we find Pashkin, Galibah, Farakshi etc. and of course the IRGC
vector including old hardcore IRGC commanders and the new generation.
They the consensus between them is around the figure of Moshava Kam and
that makes it even more intriguing because he's the invisible leader and that's extraordinary because he's
commanding attention and respect all across Iran
by remaining invisible and it's only uh some statements uh the communications with uh internally and with the few
forests that he talk everything is analog face to face when uh something uh reaches him uh concerning for instance
theou uh then only a few days or weeks later we actually know what happened. I I have
a very good example for instance we only learned a few days ago that when
he ca uh when it comes to theou from the beginning he said no I don't agree with it but
uh I will defer to a decision by the supreme national security council there are 13 members
two or three are uh let's reformist or more liberal or whatever most of them are hardline
So Mustaba basically told them look if you reach a solid majority he was maybe
thinking about okay uh 10 to2 11 to three something like that okay I'll give you the green light to go with
the M OU but this was not his decision from the beginning from the from the beginning he thought like his dad by the
way that it's impossible to have any sort of agreement with Yaras and He has been proven correct once again.
So this is for instance, nobody knew about this in the beginning. We only learned this only a few days ago.
So uh he is in full control and and the people that we have access to that pass
information to us, Larry and myself. Uh some of them they have access to the inner circle of Bhava and they said he's in total control of everything.
So you know he is the decider and very important now the Mtaba era started on Friday.
Thursday was the burial of so let's say mandate for good total without
even the ghost of his dad behind him started only this past Friday. So he is going to imprint his mark immediately
and he has consensus and the consensus is on the uh uh diplomatic political side and on the military RGC side.
So uh what we are getting from from people who have access to uh his inner
circle is that is it's as if okay we cannot put it this in a 100 100% crystal
clear terms. It's as if the leadership in Iran is betting that Trump is so cornered that sooner or
later he was going to have to come back to the negotiating table.
But Iran wants to set the conditions for this return to the negotiating table. America's going to have to pay a price.
We still don't know what kind of price that is. Destruction, total destruction of all American bases in West Asia.
Maybe this could be the price.
uh even more economic pain because this could be uh uh organized closely with the Ansarala leadership in Sana. Okay.
Block the straight uh block the Bab al-Manddev and block Saudi Arabia. That's it. in
terms in terms of oil reaching to and in fact one of the leaders of Ansarala publicly I think two days ago he said
what could happen if we did that well oil will be 150 200 the sky is the limit literally
and then that's that's the collapse of the global economy no no question about that so uh they don't want to play this
card yet but they can so the American plan which was to divide and rule with
the axis of resistance is unifying the ax axis of resistance even more.
37 minutesMeanwhile, by the way, Hezbollah continues to kick IDF's act asses in uh Lebanon. The Iraqi militias are on the next level already.
There you go. So, so the Americans are isolated apart from the block. What are they going to blockade? Let's see how
the blockade 2.0 zero is going to work and of course in terms of disaster for
the global economy even more because Iran said nobody transits through hormuse if it's not through our uh
Persian Gulf authority and the combination with the IRGC navy and in our territorial waters everywhere else
off limits how the Americans are going to uh interfere they
Yeah, this I I would think well assume that uh if the Americans are forced back to the negotiation table that the
Iranians would insist on some buying that is for the um for the Americans for
example to uh release you know all Iranian assets only as the buying cost for sitting down and talking because
otherwise there's yeah you you can't just go back and forth like this and and then they're so open about this as well. I mean JD Vance
made a comment that well you know the MOU was good. We opened up the straight we got some oil flowing again to the markets which were starved. So they're
quite open that it wasn't meant to be peace. We're we're buying time here. So I just again my impression from Iran is
they they're not going to let this uh the US have this escalation control when they decide when the war starts when we take a pause when we go back in at what
intensity should be the war be fought. I mean this is a lot of you know the Americans they can't fight the war on all conditions. So it's very strange to
allow uh for the Iranians to allow the Americans uh this luxury of choosing how the war should be fought according to you know how it best suits the
Americans. Um but uh but this must be frustrating for the Americans because you know a key strategy for maritime
hedgeimmons be it Britain or the US thereafter is always to control the main waterways. That is the main waterways. Yes.
Yes. So when you contain Russia, you go after the Baltic Sea, which they did by expanding NATO. You control the Black Sea, blockading this by again, that's
NATO, why instigated the Ukraine war to get the Russians out of Crimea, the Arctic, of course, to cut off Russia
there. This is why after World War II, the US set up this dual aisle ch island chains to blockade the the Chinese and
suddenly to have this water corridor the straight of moose under the control of the Iranians which America you know think very little about the Iranians.
They see them as you know backwards almost. This is the idea that the Iranians would defeat America. This is very humiliating for them because you
know for them they are the civilized ones. they are the superpower and the Iranians, you know. Um, yeah, this is
quite is fascinating to see that this is happening. I mean, I know that from Russia to China, even in Iran, they
they're quite surprised how this has played out. Uh, it's quite amazing.
It is. Glenn, can you imagine that a mid-ranking power under sanctions for 47 years managed to inflict a strategic
defeat in the greatest armad in the history of Star Wars in a little over two months? Who could possibly imagine this only a few months ago?
And that's exactly where we are now. So, it's no wonder psychologically for them.
They simply cannot. They don't even understand what happened and how could it happen. And now it's practically irreversible because the straight of our
moose from now on is an Iranian choke point. Period. And even worse, this is a
defeat of the petro dollar. This was a war also for controlling a key oil checkpoint and imposing the petro dollar
because the regime change in Iran immediately after that will be back to the petro dollar. So they lost on all fronts. They lost geopolitically,
militarily and geoeconomic. It's too much for them to bear. No, it's off the charts in terms of the the trauma.
They cannot possibly deal with it. And I'm not even talk about Trump. Trump is a lowly emissary, you know, he's like a grifter. He's like a a big pocket. I'm talking about the American elites.
No wonder they are catatonic.
Yeah, that's what I meant. It's a hard situation because they're in a position where they can't win militarily, but also the peace which is forced upon them
is something they can't live with. It's they cannot live with the death warrant for the American empire. So, it's quite yeah interesting
times. But let let me just ask a last question though about this uh this new this new obsession in Washington that
the Iranians will kill Trump. I mean, I'm I'm not sure if this is paranoia or if it's real. Uh, one thing you can say
for sure though is that if this is real, uh, is certainly something that the Americans have helped to normalize
themselves. that is the way they go and assassinate foreign leaders, the kidnapping foreign leaders. Uh for now
them to suggest that oh no our leaders are somehow you know untouchable. You can't you can't harm them. I mean I I
think it's a horrible horrible development when political leaders are being targeted and killed. But but this is how the Americans measured success in
Iran. Look, we're murdering all their leaders. Uh you know whoopy this is um you know this is a very dangerous development. But of course it it could
turn around that now the Iranians see the same. Well, now we need vengeance.
43 minutesWe'll kill your political leaders. But again, I'm not sure if this is even real. But uh that's what I wanted to ask you. How are you reading this situation?
Uh well, there's a metaphysical spiritual religious reading and there is, I would say, a pedestrian everyday life reading.
Well, the Americas normalize political assassinations, the Americans and the Israelis. So it's absolutely which as you as you you said correctly it's
dangerous and frightening. In fact it's part of the uh no rules international system. No rules whatsoever
international disorder. Let's put it this way. The previous was the rules-based international order that we can change anytime we want. Now it's
absolute disorder, chaos and involves political assassinations and it's completely normalized across
the spectrum and sold by western mainstream media as absolutely normal.
The Iranian mindset which is conditioned by Shiite
uh spiritual uh understanding and theology as well. It's the notion of revenge.
Uh I was talking about this with with people in Iran these past few days and they say there is a universal consensus
among Iranian society now that we need revenge.
But this is a very very large philosophical discussion. This could take years. This could take centuries.
But it's there. We one day we will have our revenge on the people who wronged
us. And this particular character, whether he's going to live a few more
years or not, he killed our leaders and he killed our supreme leader. So obviously there's got to be payback. So
45 minutesonce again, this could take forever or this could be, [laughter] let's say, if if we go on the Hollywood
Netflix road, uh, an infiltrated commando somewhere. No, no, that Uranus don't do that kind of thing. But this is
going to be a in the back of his mind, he knows that there is a death sentence against him. So this will turn if he's
already discombobulated. Glenn, can you imag can can you imagine from now on?
Which brings us to uh accidents. Uh maybe there's there's going to be a
sudden illness missile one day hitting him. Who knows?
Just like the one that landed in Kiev and a certain wararmonger from one day to another simply disappeared.
So anything is possible. But the Iranians, they see this as a as a long-term battle and justice. For
justice to prevail, there's got to be revenge. And we were wronged and we will exercise our revenge according to when we decide to do it.
Yeah, I was going to say for all of all countries for the US to go to war with Iran can pro probably to be the worst
one. I mean this for for many reasons as you said now not only is it a country of 93 million people who has prepared
itself for this war. You also have a country you know with the massive coastline and the mountain range you know is built like a fortress and also
as you just suggested the whole Shiite martyrdom culture where they
celebrate those who you know sacrifice themsel uh in the fight.
This is uh I mean all of this should be accounted for and also that they as we often ignored I think at least in the
western media the fact that the Iranians see this an existential threat. That is that if if they lose this they will end up like Syria. They will end up like
Libya. They will be destroyed. So they have everything to lose. But if they can win they will uh they will essentially
put Iran on top in the region. They will shake off the sanctions. the region countries of the region would have to readjust and uh accommodate Iran. It can
essentially assert its own security, its own economic development. I mean everything to lose or everything to win. You have
this massive incentive why they're willing to absorb any pain in order to push back the Americans and they have the capabilities.
It's just it's so beyond absurd that the US even went to this war and the fact that now the main objective for the
Americans is to open the street or moose which was open before the war it shows what a disaster this has been uh yet you
know this there can't be an admission of this you know especially for Trump I mean he's the strong man but yeah no
it's a it's a real mess they got themselves into and uh I you know I I just keep thinking back when they
started bombing initially Iran, how the media narrative was all focused on, oh well, they're liberating Iranians, you know, yes, there might be some killing,
but at least now the regime is gone and the uh women will, you know, take to the streets and be free. The public will
just rush out and topple their government, you know, cheering for, you know, waving American flags, whatever.
It's how how ridiculous this was. And yet how every single news outlet war was pushing the same stupid
uh narratives. I mean it's we do this every time. I mean how many forever wars are we going to start? And now we're going to go against the Iranians, the
Russians, the Chinese. I mean this is so suicidal. It's uh Yeah. No, it's very depressing. Very depressing.
It's very depressing. I agree with you completely. And um once again, if you don't study history, you repeat historical mistakes over and over again.
So we have uh an administration of low-life grifters, illiterate people
which never had the history of the Persian Empire among other examples. They were, you
know, they they they should have known that the Persians repelled anything that was thrown against them and emerged
richer, stronger, and even more solidified. And this is a characteristic of top civilization states. Same thing
with Russia. Europe still has not learned the lessons over the past 300 years trying to subjugate Russia.
They're going to have to learn it again in the 21st century. It's a story that we have been following closely for
years. So that's it. And and once again is Western civilization that still
refuses to understand the lessons of history and they're going to pay a heavy price for it. They are already paying a heavy price for it. It's going to be much worse.
[snorts]
Well, Pepe, thank you so much for taking the time on this hot summer day to speak with us for an hour.
Thank you, Command. It was always a pleasure to talk to you. Absolutely.
Cheers. And let's let's hope for as our uh Chinese friends say more auspicious times, but it seems that they are not around the corner. Charlie.
