Pepe Escobar: Yemen Joins the War, and the Entire Middle East Could Go Up in Flames (Glenn Diesen)

Pepe Escobar discusses the escalations and widening of the war against Iran, which now threatens to set the entire Middle East in flames. Escobar is a journalist, a political analyst, and author.



Pepe explains that the Iranians are no longer really interested in negotiating with the US which means that the war will end through when one side knocks out the other via military means. The likely outcome will be that the Iranians take out all US military bases, and also Gulf State military bases, plus energy and water infrastructure, in the region. The Strait of Hormuz will be closed causing an economic disaster, that will further handicap their opponents. 

The way some of this can be avoided is for the US to completely withdraw from the region. Gulf State countries can remove the US from their territories. The US might not be able to negotiate with Iran, because they are untrustworthy, but the Gulf State countries likely can. Regional players will have to look at settling this problem.

A lot will depend on the Israelis backing out of Lebanon, but if their water plus power generation is destroyed they might relent. They might also launch WMD attacks on Iran in response as their country is crippled. 

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, July 16, 2026.]