Behind the scenes: The secret channel that connected Donald Trump to the commander of the Revolutionary Guards
At the height of negotiations with Iran, the Americans tried to understand if the Iranian negotiating team was acting with the knowledge of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) - and took an unusual step. They turned to the president of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, who enjoys the trust of both the US and senior officials in the Revolutionary Guards, to verify this for them. He reached out directly to General Vahidi - and returned with a positive answer. Later, the Americans tried to hold secret talks under his auspices in Erbil, but the move did not materialize.
In mid-May, the American negotiating team trying to reach an agreement with Iran and end the war encountered a problem: the Americans could not understand if the people sitting across from them at the negotiating table were indeed speaking on behalf of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), which had become an especially powerful factor in the country. Therefore, senior officials in the Donald Trump administration made an unusual move - they bypassed the Iranian negotiating team and turned directly to the leadership of the Revolutionary Guards. The person chosen to serve as the secret channel was the president of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, who enjoys a rare thing: the trust of senior officials in both the United States and the Revolutionary Guards.
Why it matters
The affair, which was described by three sources with direct knowledge and has not been reported until now, illustrates how complex it is for the United States to conduct negotiations with a country where it is unclear who exactly is making the decisions. The United States and Iran did eventually reach a memorandum of understanding, but it collapsed quickly. The main problem for the Donald Trump administration today, and in any future negotiations, will be to ensure that the USA is talking to the people who are actually making the decisions. This also means finding intermediaries who enjoy trust in both the White House and the Iranian regime.
The big picture
The war has shaken Iran's leadership. The elimination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials at the political level - and the 40 days of fighting that followed - have dramatically strengthened the grip of the Revolutionary Guards on the centers of power, including in decision-making on national security and foreign policy issues. The uncertainty surrounding the situation of the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in the first weeks of the war, and his absence from the public eye, further strengthened the Revolutionary Guards commanders.
Reminder
After the ceasefire on April 8 and the summit in Islamabad a few days later, the United States and Iran tried to negotiate an end to the war. In early May, the White House thought they were nearing an agreement, but Iran delayed its response for more than ten days. Members of the negotiating team at the White House began to suspect that the Iranian representatives - Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi - were not authorized to close a deal and that the Revolutionary Guards were overriding their decisions.
Status report
The White House realized they needed a direct secret channel to the leadership of the Revolutionary Guards. Around May 10, the person who was then serving as Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, called Barzani. According to two sources with direct knowledge of the call, Gabbard told Barzani that the administration believed he could help establish contact with the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, General Ahmad Vahidi.
During the Iran-Iraq War, Barzani lived in Iran and studied at the University of Tehran. He speaks fluent Persian and maintains personal ties with many senior officials in the Iranian regime, including senior officials in the Revolutionary Guards. "Nechirvan Barzani is a pragmatic problem solver. He is respected throughout the region. He knows almost everyone in Tehran and also in Washington. This is the person you call when you get into trouble," said Brett McGurk, who served as Middle East advisor to four American presidents. According to the source, Gabbard made it clear to Barzani that she was calling him with the approval of President Donald Trump and Vice President Vance. Gabbard noted that the intermediaries had not been able to reach Vahidi to verify this.
Behind the scenes
Barzani agreed to Gabbard's request. He turned to his contacts in the Revolutionary Guards and said he had a message from the Donald Trump administration. "But I want to speak directly with General Vahidi," Barzani emphasized. The Iranians agreed. On May 14, a senior official in the Revolutionary Guards arrived at Barzani's office in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, carrying an encrypted phone for the purpose of holding a secure conversation.
Barzani asked Vahidi during the conversation if he was coordinated with the Iranian negotiating team. The Iranian general answered in the affirmative: "I support them fully and that is also the position of the Revolutionary Guards. We prefer to resolve this crisis through negotiations." Three sources, including a senior official in the White House, said that immediately after the conversation with Vahidi, Barzani called Gabbard and updated her on the Iranian response. Gabbard then updated the White House.
Plot twist
After receiving the Iranian response, the Donald Trump administration returned with another proposal. The United States asked Barzani to host secret talks in Erbil between senior American and Iranian officials. Barzani spoke with the Iranians again and conveyed the message. The Iranians did not rule out the proposal, but expressed concern for their safety. They believed that Israeli intelligence had many sources in Iraqi Kurdistan and feared that the Israelis would try to eliminate them in Erbil or during their trip there and back. The meeting in Erbil never took place.
Status report
The Pakistani and Qatari intermediaries continue to convey messages between the United States and Iran, but without significant progress, according to regional sources. Some of these sources believe that the Pakistanis are presenting a more optimistic picture than the state of the talks justifies, in an attempt to create a sense of momentum that could break the deadlock.
Barzani recently conveyed messages to the White House in which he offered to help renew negotiations. McGurk said that the problem is not the intermediary: "The problem is Iran's policy regarding the Strait of Hormuz." And that is not expected to change anytime soon.
