US President Donald Trump-led administration’s efforts in mid-May to reach a ceasefire with Iran led them to take an unconventional route, bypassing the Iranian negotiators for a backchannel to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
For this, then-US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard tapped the leadership of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, contacting Nechirvan Barzani to reach out directly to the IRGC leadership, Axios reported. We prefer to solve this crisis through negotiations,” Vahidi told Barzani, Axios reported citing a source. Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, is reportedly trusted by both Washington and senior leaders of the Iranian regime and IRGC. He lived in Iran during the country’s war with Iraq, and studied at the University of Tehran. Within four days, an IRGC official visited Barzani’s office in Iraq’s Erbil, carrying an encrypted phone to conduct a secure call. “I fully support them and this is also the position of the IRGC.
He is fluent in Farsi and had personal relationships with many senior members of the Iranian regime, including top members of the IRGC, according to one of the sources cited by Axios. Barzan, agreeing to America’s request, reached out to his contacts at the IRGC and said he had a message from the Trump administration, while stating that he wanted to speak to Vahidi.
The war, when it began, upended Iran’s leadership, with joint US and Israeli attacks killing several top leaders, including late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This, combined with the uncertainty around the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s condition during the initial weeks of the conflict and his absence from public view, compelled American officials to reach out to the IRGC directly. In this case, in early May, the White House felt it was closing in on a deal, but Iran delayed its response by ten days. This stall made US negotiators question whether Iranian negotiators – Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi – were empowered to reach a deal, and if they would be overruled by the IRGC. Ahmad Vahidi. “He knows nearly everyone in Tehran as well as Washington. Seeking clarity, the Donald Trump administration established a direct secret channel with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to verify if Iranian negotiators — Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — were in fact speaking on the military’s behalf. Barzani lived in Iran during the Iran-Iraq War, where he studied at the University of Tehran.
This episode led to US DNI Gabbard reaching out to Barzani on May 10.
Given that there were no senior leaders, the IRGC’s grip on the levers of power, including national security and foreign policy decision-making, tightened, according to the Axios report. Gabbard told Barzani that the Trump administration thought he could help get in touch with the commander of the IRGC, Gen, according to two sources who had direct knowledge of the call cited by Axios. Brett McGurk, who has served as a Middle East adviser to four US presidents, said “Barzani is a pragmatic problem solver” and respected across the region. That’s who you call in a pinch,” McGurk said. Gabbard, during the call, made it clear to Barzani that she was making the call with the approval of US Presiden Trump and Vice President JD Vance, the source cited by Axios said. The US director of national intelligence further told the Iraqi leader that the White House wanted to know if Vahidi and the IRGC were on the same page as Ghalibaf and Araghchi, or whether they had separate demands. Earlier reporting noted: The person tapped for the backchannel was Nechirvan Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, who is trusted by both the United States and the IRGC, several sources “with direct knowledge of the matter” told Axios. He, according to the US media report, is fluent in Farsi and has personal relationships with many senior members of the Iranian regime, including top members of the IRGC.
Earlier reporting noted: When the United States opened direct talks with Iran in mid-May, it had trouble determining Tehran’s true position. Earlier reporting noted: The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) administers a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq and is headquartered in Erbil.
