Judging Freedom - Pepe Escobar : China Humiliates Trump’s Blockade

Episode Date: April 15, 2026

Pepe Escobar : China Humiliates Trump’s BlockadeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Undeclared wars are commonplace. Pragically, our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression, with no complaints from the American people. Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government. To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected. What if sometimes to love your country you had to alter or abolish the government? the government. What if Jefferson was right? What if that government is best, which governs least? What if it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong? What if it is better to perish fighting for freedom than to live as a slave? What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now?

Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for judging freedom. Today is Wednesday, April 15, 2006, my dear friend, Pepe Escobar, joins us. Pepe, a pleasure. Thank you very much, my friend. I know you have a lot of analysis for us on China and Hormuz, but before we get to that, what is your understanding of the meetings between the United States and Iran and Islamabad last weekend? Well, as we speak, Judge, field marshal Assin Munir is in Tehran. He arrived an hour ago or so.

He was welcomed by foreign minister, actually, at the airport, and they are discussing the possibility of Islamabad too. Well, the Iranians already said that it's not going to be in Islamabad. They don't feel safe going back to Islamabad. When they left the last time, it was a harrowing journey. They had to fly to Mashad, and then they went overland back to Tehran. They never felt safe. And they said, look, okay, next time, but it's going to have to be Russia or China.

The host. So I assume this is what they are discussing now as we speak. What happened in Islamabad? Now we all know what really happened, especially because of leaks from Iranian sources, including members of parliament, who were actually in the room, not outside the room. And it's more or less the same thing. In the beginning, there was a relatively civilized dialogue between Arachi and Vance. But suddenly, everything was completely derailed by the eruption. on the scene inside the room

by Hackle and Jacko, Dumb and Dumb and Dumbled D and Tweedledum with Kuchner. Taking orders from Tel Aviv. Exactly. Taking order from Tel Aviv. And, of course, the numbers vary, but the 12 phone calls

from J.D. Vance to the White House plus a J.D. Vance call with Netanyahu. So obviously, it was absolutely impossible to have any sort of decent framework or what Arachi. Arakshi was saying that in the beginning, we were almost inching closer to a memorandum of understanding, which is already enormous, considering what happened these past 47 years. And then another thing that was leaked by one of the people who were actually inside their room, guess what the American delegation wanted?

Money. Money. Grifter stuff. Trump having a cut of the toll booths in the Strait of Hormuz. Absolutely incredible, but totally predictable. Well, Trump personally or the United States. States. Trump and his crone is judged. Let's

put it this way. They would find a loophole. After all, why Jared Gushner was there. Jared Kush is a grifter. So he was there for that. Let's get a cut out of that. That's too much more. Our mutual friend, Muhammad Miranda, who was part of

the delegation, but not in the room. Describe it. Yes. He was not a couple of things very consistent with what you said. We start at the end. The trip out of there was harrowing. Same thing you said.

They don't want to go back there. Same thing you said. We know what they're afraid of. They're afraid of assassination from the Israelis. They're not afraid of assassination from the Pakistanis. On the contrary, they were very well protected by the Pakistanis. There were Pakistani jets escorting them when they were arriving. And then when they left as well.

The Pakistanis did a fabulous job as hosts. and mediators. And the Iranians essentially trust them. But they don't trust everything else. They don't trust the absent syndicate as a whole. Yes, yes, please, Judge. Professor Miranda also told us, and some of this he witnessed himself, that Vice President Vance was ill at ease and couldn't answer yes or no to anything. He had to make a phone call to everything. So he was just a clerk. He was just a messenger. He didn't have the authority that the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament and Foreign Minister Arachi had. Absolutely. And he didn't know that those he had no clue about many of the dossiers like most of the American delegation. Another information from one of our Iranian sources.

They had no clue about the most important technical dossiers like the nuclear dossier. The Iranian The Iranians arrived with a file of 120 pages, fully annotated with all the details. The Americas had no idea what they were talking about. Were there any American diplomats there? We know Vance is not a diplomat. We know Whitkoff and Kushner or not. Did anybody from the State Department, whether knowledge and experience of Iran accompanied them?

No. And, well, that ties up with the Secretary of State on the night of the most important diplomatic engagement between the U.S. and Iran in 47 years. He went to a new FC match with the President of the United States. That tells us the whole story, right? A cage fight. Yes, a cage fight. Yeah. What do you think Trump's scheme was incending Vance?

Financial Times, which you and I both read, a lot of our viewers read it as well, are referred to this as Vance Drinking Poison from a Chalice. Yes, it's a very good metaphor. In fact, he was thrown into the fire. If this was a real negotiation, we would have an array of seasoned State Department diplomats, at least nothing like that. We had two real-state speculators and grifters, and a guy who doesn't know much about foreign policy. And he knows next to nothing about Iran, J.D. Vance.

So what did Trump want to accomplish? Blame this failure on Vance and use it as an excuse to heat up the war again? That's one possibility, Judge. And the other, he was just playing for time, which is exactly what we're seeing now. He was playing for time because there was already this idea. Okay, this is far and all that. Okay, let's block everything. This was already being considered because the start of the actual blockade of the non-blockade.

Because the straight-over moves was not blockaded. There was a five, there still is. There is a five-tier procedural navigation system. If you go through it and you pay the toll, no problem. The Japanese paid the toll already. The South Koreans, they sent a nemesary from Seoul, who is now in Tehran discussing with the Iranians, okay, we're going to pay as well,

as long as we can bring all the oil and gas that we need. No problem. There are 26 South Korean tankers roaming around the Strait of Hormuz. They want to go back to South Korea. Is the trade of Hormuz open or is it closed? as we speak. No, it's not closed, Judge. Before the blockade, which started on,

was Tuesday? Today is Wednesday, right? Yes. The block is right. Okay. There were ships from five nations that were going back and forth with no problem. China, India, Iraq, Pakistan, and Russia.

Yes, five. Is that? Five. The other ones, they had to negotiate. And that includes lots of Asians. And like, for instance, two or three weeks ago, the Filipinos and the ties, they had tankers passing through. They paid the toll. No problem. So this will probably continue. So for most nations in Asia, they were coming to grips and finding solutions and negotiating, of course. What is the United States Navy doing? What is it accomplishing? Well, first of all, it's a cowardly set up, Judge, because they are not in the Persian Gulf. They are in the eastern fringes of the Sea of Oman. That's a completely different start, very far away from the Persian Gulf and very close to the Arabian Sea. To give an idea to you and to all our, if you check the map.

Chris, can you put up a map? This is in the Sistan-Baluchistan southern region of Iran, and the coast is what we call the Makram coast. It's beautiful. I traveled that last year when we're doing our documentary all the way to the Pakistani border. And essentially on the Pakistani side, on the Balochistan side, is the Arabian Sea. So the Americans are at the eastern fringes. south of the Iranian coast, of course, at least, if I remember correct, around 200 kilometers south of the Iranian coast and close to the Arabian Sea. Of course, it's the same sea, but with two denominations.

But they are far away. So they believe that they are out of range of Iran's drones and missiles. Not necessarily. And certainly not out of. range of the latest generation drones and ballistic missiles and hypersonics from Iran. For the moment, there's no fire power involved because the ceasefire is still on, but the ceasefire expires late next week. Then we're going to see what really happens.

And theoretically, if we follow what Centcom is saying, Ah, we closed the whole space for Iranian ships navigating. Having a little freeze or at least in Edward. I'm not sure if I'm frozen, Chris, or if Pepe is. All right, Pepe, hopefully you'll come back to us. When you do, I'm going to ask you, what is the value of the U.S. Navy so far away from the street? Chris, shall we re-log on? All right, Pepe, if you can hear me, you're going to have to log off and then log on again because you're frozen.

You may be speaking, but we can't hear you. All right, here he goes. So Pepe will be back with us in a minute. What he's articulating is that the United States, as I understand it, that the United States Navy is so far removed from the Strait of Hormuz, that this is not an effective blockade. And if countries have an agreement with Iran, negotiated with Iran, pay the toll to Iran, their empty ships come in, their filled ships go out. The question I'm going to ask, Pepe is what is the U.S. Navy accomplishing so far are removed from the strait? And are U.S. Navy personnel boarding these ships that are trying to get out?

Do we have any word from him, Chris? No, not yet. All right, why don't you put the map up? Okay. So you can see where the Strait of Hormuz is. Here's Pepe, he's back. Something happened. Yeah, all right, you're back, but we put the map up for you.

So using the markings on that map, tell us, we see where the straight is, where the circle is. Where is the U.S. Navy? To the right of that circle, straight of all. Do you see the Iranian-Pakistani border? That's here. Iran-Pakistan. This is, let's say, the junction between the Sea of Oman and the Arabian Sea. This is where the Americans are.

Are they able to prevent ships leaving? As I understand it, an empty tanker will enter. It'll be filled. It'll start to leave. It'll pay the toll and then it'll complete its departure route. What is the Navy doing? Stopping filled? ships from leaving?

We have absolutely zero feedback on whether they are stopping anyone or no, no, no, this is the Babal Mandeb. So, okay, we're back to our...

Yes, here we are. You see the border between Iran and Pakistan. This is where the Americans are, less. And what is the distance between that border? Okay, what is the distance between that border where the cursor is and where that jagged line is and the circle where the straight is? Is that 200 miles? Much more. I would say 700 kilometers at least. I remember well because I flew from Bandar Abbas, which is in the Persian Gulf, and you went to the port of Chabahar, which is more or less here. It's about a three-hour drive from the Iran-Pakistani border.

So all in all, it's around 600, 700 kilometers, it's very, very far away. First question is, what is the Navy accomplishing? And second question is, how does this rest with the Chinese? Well, I was scarring Chinese. media today to see if there were any very, very sharp analysis about it, and I couldn't find anything, at least for now. The thing is, the Chinese are taking their time to see, especially they want to see something very, very concrete. Will Centcom, which in fact now is Indopaccom, this is what this force is.

Will they have the balls to board a Chinese super tanker? To seize a Chinese super tanker and send it to park it somewhere, I don't know, in Djibouti, for instance. Or even to shoot at people inside the Chinese supertanker in international waters. Because what we're all talking about here is international waters. That would be an act of piracy, wouldn't it? This is an act of piracy and an act of war. So if we come to that, the PLA Navy will enter the chat. So the Chinese, as we all know, they take their time, they buy their time,

and when they do something, then it's the real thing. So for the moment, they are observing. And of course, it's, I would say, thunderous silence coming from Beijing so far. The Ministry of Defense, we thought we had a quote yesterday. But then when we checked, we found out that it was in a fringe channel in China, with the Minister of Defense saying, look, we have agreements with Iran. And this is nobody else's business. The language was too blunt for a minister in China.

Today, very, very interesting. Lavrov, as we all know, is in Beijing. He met with Wang Yi first, and he was received personally by Xi Jinping. Very, very important. And what they were saying is still very vague. Once again, their strategic partnership and that the situation has to be solved diplomatically.

So for the moment the Chinese are playing it very safe. I think they are waiting for some sparks to fly. And that will be if we have the Indo-Pak Kong gang boarding a Chinese super tanker in international waters, which is something that could happen in the next few days. How extensive are Chinese reserves of oil? They can last for mid-July, August, at least for 3rd. five months, Judge. Easy. No problem at all. And something that

I stressed in my latest column. They have plans B, C, D, F, etc. Gas pipeline from Myanmar. They can get more oil from Russia, the ESPO oil pipeline. Lavrov said yesterday. To everybody in Beijing, look, you need more gas, for instance, no problem. We can plunge into our spare capacity and you can get more gas coming from

the power of Siberia 1 pipeline. They have the gas pipeline from Turkmenistan, which is Chinese, by the way, paid for this pipeline, from Turkmenistan to Xinjiang in Western China. So they have a lot of extra possibilities. Of course, if they lose 1.3 million barrels a day from China, Of course, it's a kick. But they could, ah, another thing, Iran has an extra port outside of the Strait of Hormuz,

Jask. And Jask has a capability of one million barrels of oil a day. So some of it, or most of it could go to Asia, and most of it go to China as well. So China is not going to lose a lot, essentially. Let me switch gears a little bit, since you mentioned Sergei Lavrov. Yes.

Is President Putin under pressure to bring about a rapid end to the special military operation in Ukraine? Yes, yes. From, I would say, certain circles among the Intel apparatus, not from oligarchs, because some oligarchs are making a lot of money out of it. A lot of people connected to the Ministry of Defense is also making. a lot of money out of it. The problem is the whole Russian strategy approved by Putin from the beginning is a war of attrition as long as it takes demilitarization, not only of Ukraine, but NATO. So this thing could go on for three, four more years easily. But obviously, public opinion

in Russia now, when they start to look how Iran alone under sanctions is staring down the empire the way they're doing it, they start asking questions about Ukraine. No question, no question about that. Does Iran, not Iran, does Ukraine have some sense of confidence or do they recognize that the territory in dispute is now virtually all under Russian control. They will never admit that. Well, if they admit that, they're going to be killed by those gangsters in the background, the ultra-neonazza. Wow. All right, Pepe, thank you very much, my dear man. Where do you think we'll be in a week? Do you think that the army chief of,

the chief of staff of the army of Pakistan will talk the Iranians? into meeting the Americans in Moscow or Beijing? He's the only guy who can make it work, Judge, because don't forget, he has Trump on speed dial. Trump loves him, by the way. And the Iranians trust him. Very, very important. He has a very good relationship with that actually personal as well.

So the Iranians know that if there is an Islamabad, 2.0 outside of Islamabad is going to be the same thing as the first as the first one. It's going to be J.D. Vance like a scared rabbit asking Trump for permission to do everything. Exactly, Judge. And of course, we should never forget the exit line.

The Iranians chose not to accept our demands. What kind of negotiation is this? It's completely absurd, which fits everything that we heard from our sources in Islamabad, including Professor Marandi, who everybody told him what happened, and especially the people who are actually in the room. Is anything being negotiated besides nuclear enrichment and Hormuz? They're not negotiating regime change, right? No, out of the questions. They're not negotiating whether Iran can have ballistic missiles out of the question. Out of the question.

Arachshus said that from the beginning. And Kali-Bav... Trump will defy his Zionist masters if he presumes to negotiate peace in Lebanon. Exactly. And they discussed Lebanon, at least in the beginning, before the Israeli intervention, they were discussing Lebanon. Because the Iranians from the beginning said, look, the ceasefire involves everything, including Lebanon.

And this is, I would say this is the cherry on the cake, but the cake that we have not seen yet. Basically, today we have the message from the Iranians saying, if this blockade of Hormuz doesn't stop, guess what's going to happen next? What the Yemenis defined as the Al-Axa triangle blockade. Because if you do a triangle, you link Suez, Hormuz, the port of Yambu in Western Saudi Arabia, and the Bab al-Mandeb. It's a triangle, essentially. One of my Yemeni friends sent me a map with a red triangle, in fact.

And the hooties are just, I would say they are in the luxury VIP seats, just waiting for the right moment to enter the chat. If that happens, then it's oil at 200 a barrel. And then Trump has to sue for peace. Wow. Pepe, thank you very much. Great. terrific analysis and a terrific piece which will post empire of piracy blockades Iran and China. Great,

great peace. Thank you, my dear friend. It was always about China, Judge. It was always about China. I wish we had time to talk about Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca, but we unfortunately don't have time. Next time. Thank you, my friend. Stay well, be safe. We'll talk to you. Same to you. Thanks very much. Thank you. Coming up later this afternoon at 2.15, Professor Glendiz, and at 3 o'clock, the great Phil Giraldi. Judge Napal Tenter for judging freedom.