Pepe Escobar, Zulfiqar Ali: Iran’s Leaders Expect US Attack; Only Question Is When; TARGETS LOCKED; 6 MONTHS STOCKED

by Transition Protocol [10-4-2026] Pepe Escobar(bio).

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.