Pepe Escobar, Zulfiqar Ali:Trump Will Bomb an Empty Mountain? Israel’s Dimona in Iran’s Sights; Italy’s Ghost Jet & “No Deal”
by Transition Protocol [11-3-2026] Pepe Escobar(bio).
TP exclusive: Transition Protocol sources say Pickaxe Mountain — the Iranian site Trump says the US may strike — is empty, its materials moved to a highly secure location fewer than five people know. Pepe Escobar says a strike would hit "a mega, mega mountain for nothing".
Host Zulfiqar Ali's Iranian contacts say "multiple warheads" are locked onto Dimona; Escobar describes a Saudi prince's warning in Tehran and a ghost Italian jet; and a contact close to Mohsen Rezaei says "flat-out no" to the deal reports.
- 05:56 The empty mountain — a TP exclusive.
- 07:37 Italy's ghost jet at Mehrabad: a plea to spare Aviano and Sigonella?
- 15:25 Oil fell on deal reports. A contact close to Rezaei: "flat-out no."
- 19:14 "Multiple warheads, many angles": what Iran's contacts say about Dimona.
- 38:23 A Saudi prince in Tehran: "Turkey next. Then us."
What you'll learn: what our sources say is — and isn't — inside Pickaxe Mountain; why Escobar thinks a big defeat tonight makes Trump more dangerous abroad; what "negotiate by day, bomb by night" means after Qeshm; why Tehran prefers Pakistan's channel to Qatar's; what China and Russia did in the same 24 hours, two weeks before APEC in Shenzhen.
Sourcing note: The Pickaxe Mountain report is Transition Protocol's own sourcing — Escobar's "top source" and the host's "person who absolutely knows" may be one source — and cannot be independently verified. The no-deal answer is from the host's contact; Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on 3 November that Washington had approved a draft memorandum of understanding, and no government has confirmed it. The Dimona remarks are the host's Iranian contacts' and appear in no public statement we found. Escobar's "ghost Italian plane" and the "November 7" date were not found in public reporting.
Public record: Trump said on 16 October the US "may have to" strike Pickaxe Mountain and "I wouldn't use nuclear"; the US struck Qeshm late on 2 November (unnamed US officials: "limited", "defensive"; CENTCOM has not commented); on 2 November Xi hosted Oman's Sultan Haitham, Wang Yi met Ali Bagheri Kani, and Putin spoke with Rezaei; China's envoy Zhai Jun is due in Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia this month; APEC leaders meet in Shenzhen on 18–19 November.