Nechirvan Barzani

United States

2026-08-16 10:36:06

US reportedly bypassed Iranian negotiators to reach IRGC leadership during talks

According to ChainCatcher, citing three people familiar with the matter, US negotiators ran into a key problem in mid-May while trying to secure an agreement with Iran to end the war: they could not tell whether the Iranian officials across the table actually spoke for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, one of the country’s most powerful forces. The report says Trump administration officials then used an unusual channel, bypassing Iran’s negotiators and making direct contact with senior IRGC figures. The person chosen to handle that secret line was Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, who was described as enjoying the trust of both Washington and the IRGC leadership. The episode, the report said, highlighted a core obstacle in US-Iran diplomacy: Washington could not clearly determine who held real decision-making power in Iran. The two sides did eventually reach a memorandum of understanding, but it soon collapsed.

1360

Trump adminis

2026-08-16 10:32:04

Axios says Trump officials bypassed Iranian negotiators to contact IRGC directly

Axios, citing three people familiar with the matter, reported that U.S. negotiators ran into a basic problem in mid-May while trying to reach an agreement with Iran to end the war: they could not tell whether the Iranian officials across the table actually spoke for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a power center with major influence inside the country. According to the report, that uncertainty led Trump administration officials to take an unusual step and open direct contact with senior IRGC figures instead of relying only on Iran’s formal negotiators. The person chosen to handle the secret backchannel was Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, who the report said was trusted by both Washington and the IRGC leadership. Axios said the episode highlighted a core obstacle in U.S.-Iran diplomacy, namely Washington’s inability to determine who truly holds decision-making power in Iran. The two sides eventually reached a memorandum of understanding, but the arrangement quickly fell apart.

1330