Judging Freedom - Pepe Escobar : No One Negotiating with the US

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

Pepe Escobar : No One Negotiating with the USSee 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. Fragically, 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? 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 Thursday, October 8, 2006. Pepe Escobar, joins us now. Pepe, a pleasure. As always, thank you, much. We have a lot to talk about. I want to start with U.S.-Iran negotiations. How has there been any negotiations, I would assume, if at all, indirect, since President Trump again disavowed his own signature on the memorandum of understanding a sort of dialed back version of which was offered to U.S. negotiators at the UN by Foreign Minister Arachi two weeks ago. Exactly. For the moment, the famous dead cat is dead for the millions time.

Last, I would say, attempt at mediation was once again via Pakistan. the Iranians received a sort of response by the U.S. Nobody could tell us who exactly responded to. It's not even, and everything is written in the MOU. But it was once again an American no. So now really the Supreme National Security Council in Iran, they are fed up or say, okay, there's nothing to talk about. We tried everything.

Everybody tried everything. President Sishing P. Person at the Oval Office tried something, and it's impossible. And, of course, on top of that, we have JD Vance making extra demands on the nuclear dossier, which, from an Iranian point of view, is the last thing to be discussed. Right. So everything is dead at the moment. Sorry, yes, please.

No, no, no. And I appreciate you saying that. When President Pazekian was interviewed in my presence, there were about 40 of us in the room, in a hotel across the street from the UN. I think I've told you this. Yes. If you're not going to develop nuclear weapons, why do you need enriched uranium material?

And he said, we're in the middle of negotiations. He gave that same very tactful answer to Brett Baer, who thought he had a gotcha on Fox News the next day. So Vance, who, if you recall, and I know you recall this, personally participated in the negotiations in Islamabad about two months. Either forgot what he learned there or didn't learn a thing. Well, he conveniently forgot everything. But there's another development, including the Supreme National Security Council in Tehran judge

and all several members of parliament. There is, I would say, a near consensus between parliamentarians and the Supreme National Security Council that there's got to be reorientation of the nuclear doctrine. This would not imply Iran leaving the NPT. Essentially is to enrich all the way to 90%. And if they detect, especially after the midterms, Another, like the leader of the desk cult was trying to convince Trump, land, air and see American Israeli operation against Iran. They should go for broke.

This is on the stage, serious, very, very serious discussions. We confirmed with one of our sources close to the cabinet of Mostaba. Because the final approval, if that's the case, has to come from him. And it's an immensely complex decision, which is not only geopolitical, military, but also theological. Right. Well, one of the questions that was put to President Possession in at this meeting of 40 of us to treat of Marcy was there, Jeff Sachs was there, and then most of the others were journalists. was it might have been Nick Christoff from the Times, I don't remember who asked, is the fat was still in existence? President Poschka said yes.

So now we hear that, as you just mentioned, Iran may withdraw from the non-proliferation treaty. Is there pressure from a variety of sources on the Iranian government to get the new supreme leader to alter the fatwa on the theory that an Iranian nuclear weapon is the best defense against another Israeli-American invasion. Possession of the weapon, not its use, but it's possession, sort of like North Korea has. Absolutely. First of all, Judge, the nuclear fatwa is not dead. Sorry, this is nonsense.

The nuclear fatwa still exists. Even though our mutual good friend whose intellect and intellectual honesty we value, Trita Parsi has said it is dead. No, it's not. It's not. And technically it's not because the first fatwa by Kaminet and the reiteration of the by community, I'm sorry. The reiteration by Kaminet still stands.

If there is any. change, it will have to come from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mostaba Kamene. So we are not there yet. We are in a stage of discussions. And these discussions are very serious because they involve the Supreme National Security Council. They involve Moshen Rezaa, who is the personal representative of Moshava Kamenei, and it involves the parliament. So the echoes that we received from from our sources in Tehran is that we are on a stage of discussing it, and there is a near consensus that something has to be done. But once again, this decision is so far reaching,

so immensely complex with so many consequences. But considering that the whole Supreme Council considers that Iran is fighting an existential war, and it is. This is a do-or-die war for Iran. So if it comes to a point where this, I would say a whiff, to quote Monty Python nowadays, that there's going to be some sort of renewal of the war by US, Israel, and attacking energy infrastructure, and even with the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons, then all bets are off.

Then we can start thinking about the beginning of the end of the original Fatwa, 1.0 and 2.0. All right. Let's move on to Ansara Law. Where does it stand? Who are they fighting? Who's supporting them? What are they trying to achieve?

Nobody's supporting. They do everything by themselves, Judge. When I was there last year, I've seen a lot of stuff around the world. I was immensely impressed. They explained to me the decision process. How do they get scientific knowledge for the perfection of their weapons? How there is a back-and-force with both Russia and China since Maoist Times and since the USSR with first-class Yemeni engineers and technicians and how, of course, they discuss with the IRGC and the Iranian government.

But all their decisions are taken by themselves. In the case of Saudi Arabia, this is, I would say, the latest phase of the Saudi war against Yemen, which started in 2015. And then there was a sort of memorandum of understanding between both, which was broken by Saudi Arabia once again. Saudi Arabia simply cannot allow an independent Yemen to exist, period. Because in terms of purity of Islam, in terms of the purity of their faith, in terms of the respect that they have all across the lands of Islam, not only in the Arab world, but in Islamic lands as a whole, they are the legitimate rulers of Arabia to come.

come back to the Roman Empire, the original Arabia Felix in Latin, happy Arabia. It's Yemen. And when you look back to the Koran, when the Prophet was talking about Islam, the purity of Islam was embodied by Yemenis. The people who took Islam to Africa and Southeast Asia, Yemeni navigators. So they are the legitimate heirs of Islam, and not those. Bedouin bling, bling from the middle of the desert. And obviously, this is the House of South.

And the House of Sal is essentially a British invention. And all those fake petro sheikhs exactly the same thing. And the Yemenis have had enough, and they were biding their time. And of course, they were militarizing themselves. So, okay, when we launch the definitive offensive, we're going to go for broke. And this is what's happening now. We are only in the first phase. The first phase has been immensely successful because they conquered everything in the western coast,

aboard the Red Sea, all the way to the Bab al-Aulmandeb, including the Bob Al-Mandeb. Let me stop me for a second. Chris, can you put that map up again? Yes, please. That would be nice, exactly. Do you see the city of Thais, Judge? Very, very important. Thais, the city now is under Ansarawa.

in this past 48 to 24 hours. They were controlling the governor of Thais, and now they are also controlling the city of Thais. And there is a very important, we cannot see on the map, of course, linking Thais with Aden. They already control this road. So if they want, they can go all the way to Aden. But the most important thing for them, for them now is Maribu.

How significant is the... Thank you for that, Chris. How significant is the Ansarala control... Okay, put the other map up, Chris. How significant is the Ansarala control of Bob al-Mandeb? Stated differently, how harmful to the Saudi accumulation of wealth is the control of that street? Absolutely. Because of course there is a blockade against Saudi petrol tankers, but there's also blockade against Israeli

metro tankers. This means the port of a lot in Israel is completely out of the picture. And this was supposed to be a key port in the future Abraham Accords side by side with Saudi Arabia. So that explains why Israel is freaking out as well. And for Saudi, of course, their only way to export would be via the Swiss. canal. More important than that, now the whole thing is moving towards Saudi Arabia. Ansarala, they already bombed Jeddah, which is something that they ever did in the past few years. And Jeddah close to Yambu. Yambu was bombed again. The refineries in Yambu are out of the picture. They were bombing east and west of the east-west pipeline and the

pipeline itself. So we are on a whole new level already. This means that they are, you know, I'm calling it the incoming Yemeni storm. We are already in the middle of the Yemeni storm. And when they conquer Marib, which is essentially where the oil is, everything in the center west and southwest of Yemen, which is the Yemen that really works. And it's the population. is roughly 90%. If you look at the map, where you see other Yemeni forces is basically a gigantic desert. It's the Hadramut and desert and tribes in the desert. There's nothing there. I tried to go down last year. They said, no. First of all, they will kidnap you if you go there. And second, there's nothing for you to see. Basically, a bunch of tribes in the middle of the desert.

What about the new defense pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. Should Ansarala expect to be fighting troops from Turkey, what we used to call Turkey, and Pakistan? Well, this is the question that I put. Larry and I, we posed this question directly to the Pakistani government. They answered us, Judge. And their official answer, we asked that again yesterday. And this is something that we were discussing in our two latest podcast, Larry and I. The first answer, they said something very, very strict. We made a strategic decision. We are not going to attack Ansarala and Yemen. This is for purely defensive purposes. So we're going to transfer troops, material, etc., to defend Saudi Arabia. And every single

be positioned inside Saudi Arabia. But there was something that happened in this past 48 hours, just which is extremely troubling. And I asked them again yesterday, how do you explain the fact? It's not 100% confirmed, but it's practically confirmed that when Ansarala launched two ballistic missiles close to Athens Airport. Why? Because the headquarters of the mercenaries paid by Saudi Arabia is very close to the airport. So Ansarala shoved two ballistic missiles. A lot of people were killed, Saudi advisors, and apparently at least one Pakistani advisor, which means there may be more than one Pakistani advisors in Yemen territory.

If that's the case, Pakistan, they are buying, I would say, the mother of all headaches for themselves. I hope this is not true. But they told us that no, we're going to be only in Saudi territory. But very, very important. They are in southern Saudi Arabia. What does that mean? Those three provinces that are Yemeni lands. And in the next stage of the Yemeni storm, they're going there to get these promises as well.

So Pakistan is not as, you know, in the rear guard, as they are saying, essentially. And I'm asking that every day. I hope they clarify exactly where their troops are and what they are doing. Are Pakistani jets dropping bombs on Nansarala? No. According to the Pakistani government, Judge, this is something we still have not been able to confirm. That's one of the things I would like to confirm during this week.

In fact, we're asking them every week, okay, could you please break down? Where are your troops? Where are your jet fighters? Are they only in some bases? What are they doing? And are they helping the Saudis to bomb? For the moment, we have no answers to all of these questions. Well, what is the status you're going to laugh when I ask you of the Strait of Horm moving?

who controls it now? You know what, Judge? It's a very tricky question. It's not the Americans. But Iran is controlling up to a certain stage. Because there are a lot of tankers who are actually paying the PGSA, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority. We don't know how.

Do they pay it? Usually you won. It could be some sort of transfer using the SIPs Chinese system, which is what is going to be implemented officially. And this is one of the things that we learned this weekend. It was not officially confirmed anywhere else. They have decided that the toll booths in the straightover moves, will have to be settled in Riales. But how this is going to work?

Via real is the Iranian currency. Iranian currency. You're right, Judge. In Iranian currency, which nowadays is worse, I'm sorry, less than nothing. But they need an influx of foreign exchange. How are they going to get that? Simple. You want a petrol tanker.

You want to cross our moves. You access the Chinese payment system, Sips. You buy you one. You transfer your. you want into the reales and you pay the toll. So essentially, Iran is going to have an extra influx of you want. Right. I'm going to post what Reuters says is going on in the street.

And then I'm going to post what Marco Rubio says. Hormuz transits at lowest in over two months after a tax data shows. Now, our friend Muhammad Mirandi told us that there was a lot of traffic while President Posashkin and foreign minister Arachi were here in the U.S. intentionally so as not to create a dangerous situation for them. But since they got back to Iran, the traffic is lower. And what traffic there is is paying the tolls that are being shared by Oman and Iran. You agree with that. Yes. Our friend Marandi, of course, it's absolutely correct.

It's much lower than before. They want to keep it low enough. But the most important thing is that they are getting paid. All right. Here's Secretary of State Rubio in Athens, Greece, on this very topic earlier today. The Straits of Hormuz are open. There's almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began, so they've lost complete control of the street. Does the American Secretary of State know what he's talking about?

No comments, Judge. Who buys that? I mean, it's mind-boggling, but it is consistent with the propaganda out of the White House and their cheerleaders at the Wall Street Journal. Absolutely. Of course, the Wall Street Journal, as we all know, they want war on top of it. It's a murder cooperation. Essentially, they want war. It used to be a great newspaper decades ago. That's another story. But the most important, the most important thing, Judge, is these two decisions that were made by the Security Council in the past 48 hours. Number one, the toll stays and it will have to be paid in reales, which means a connection with the Chinese payment. and number two, there is nothing to discuss with the Americans, period. That's it. It's all there. It's in our list.

It's in the so-called New York Channel, which was developed by Iraqshed during the UN General Assembly. It's what essentially President C told Trump in person, go back to the memorandum, and there's nothing else to add. And it was rejected, reject and reject, reject, that's it. Is it fair? Now, I just want to take big picture, look from a distance. Is it fair to argue that Trump's push toward war has turned into an American retreat? Not a retreat yet.

He has pulled planes from Great Britain, and he has, without announcing it, pulled some troops from the Gulf. The retreat, if there is a retreat, is going to be after the military. We still don't know what's going to happen after the midter terms. All bets are off. This original desk cult plan of a land, air, and sea offensive is beyond suicidal. And obviously, even generals in the Pentagon are going to say it because they game it already. It is totally suicidal. What are they going to do?

Continue with the ghastly bascent strangulation of Iran and economy. economy. You cannot strangulate Iran and economy because, first of all, the barter system, the way they have survived 47 years of sanctions, this is something that only countries in the global South know how to do it. Nobody in the U.S. knows how these things actually work in practice. Using the Islamic payment system, trade with all their neighbors in West Asia, in Central Asia, via Central Asia to

China, with the border with Pakistan, six different overland corridors, all that continues. So the economy is not being strangled. They have a problem to have an influx of more foreign currents, hard currents. Let me stop you here because we have some breaking news from foreign minister Arachi that negotiations with the U.S. are still ongoing. Watch this. of God, the most gracious, the most merciful. The negotiation process is still ongoing and messages are being exchanged through intermediaries. We have presented our proposal, which was titled the seven-day plan, and we have heard the Americans' views in response. We are currently in the process of reviewing them. I think we will respond within a few days, and as I mentioned, the

negotiation process is ongoing. Would you like to add anything more to that? Oh. He cannot possibly say everything is there. It's diplomacy, Judge. He's a very good diplomat. And what he said essentially is true. The Qataris and the Pakistanis are still trying. But for the moment is dead because the Americas rejected everything. Right. Pepe, I have to run, but I could talk to you all afternoon. Thank you very much. I would love to, Judge. Judge, can we have something next to? Can I talk about Brazil next week? Yes, I know you want to talk about the 21st century. Seriously. I wish that your friend Lula knew how to run a campaign, but the people of Brazil will cover for it.

Yeah. Apparently, it's getting much better this past 48 hours. All right. Well, maybe the outcome will be different from what everyone's predicting. We'll talk to you, sir. Thank you, Pepe. All the best. Thank you, Judge. Thank you so much. Sure. Bye-bye. Coming up later today, at 2 o'clock this afternoon on all of this is the American government in retreat, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson.

And at 3 o'clock, the maniacal. excess of October 7th, Max Blumenthal. Judge Napolitano for judging freedom.