Pepe Escobar, Zulfiqar Ali: Iran Rejects Trump’s Offer and Changes Price of Hormuz; Iran’s new toll rule RIALS ONLY
by Transition Protocol [10-6-2026] Pepe Escobar(bio).
Iran has refused Trump’s last counteroffer in full and decided that ships crossing Hormuz will pay in rials only, Transition Protocol’s sources say — decisions taken hours before this recording and not yet announced.
Host Zulfiqar Ali and Pepe Escobar, speaking from Bangkok after midnight, on what Tehran just decided, why the last diplomatic channel may be dead four weeks before the US midterms, and why Pakistan’s diplomats see the Yemen war as the biggest threat yet to the House of Saud.
- 03:13 The rial rule: “nothing other than Iranian currency”, cleared through China’s CIPS rather than the Western system. Iranian officials have floated rial-denominated tolls since April; the host reports a decision.
- 04:34 The refusal: the counteroffer carried by Qatari mediators “was rejected… categorically”, per the host’s sources; Iran says it will abide only by the MOU.
- 06:34 The clock: Escobar says the channel is dead; the host says Pakistan is still talking to Witkoff. Four weeks to 3 November.
- 12:15 The Mecca question: an alliance to defend Saudi Arabia, but none for Gaza?
- 19:21 Pakistan’s troops near Yemen: defense only, the host’s sources say. Pakistan’s Defense Minister said on 1 October that “whatever means are available” would be at Saudi Arabia’s disposal.
- 30:01 Brazil’s 25 October runoff, after Flávio Bolsonaro’s first-round lead.
What you’ll learn: what Iran’s Supreme National Security Council decided, and how the decision reached Washington, how a rial-only toll would work and why it matters for shipping, sanctions and the dollar, Iran’s stated terms for reopening Hormuz, where Pakistan stands between Tehran, Riyadh and Washington, why the Saudi–Yemen front may move north.
Sourcing note: the Security Council decisions and the Pakistani positions are the host’s own reporting. The claim of a rift between Prince Khalid bin Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the host’s and has not been publicly confirmed.