Inside Trump’s Iran backchannel: How Iraq’s Barzani helped the US prez reach IRGC

How Barzani Opened Trump’s Iran Backchannel

Theindiapostdaily.com – Inside Trump’s Iran backchannel, a Kurdish regional leader became the unlikely bridge between Washington and Tehran’s military establishment. Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraqi Kurdistan, was approached by US intelligence in mid-May to open a direct line to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to Axios reporting. The move marked a sharp departure from conventional diplomatic channels and underscored how far the two sides had drifted from formal negotiation tables.

The Diplomatic Stalemate

The backchannel effort emerged from a deeper frustration: US negotiators increasingly doubted their Iranian counterparts held authority to close a deal. After an April 8 ceasefire and a follow-up summit in Islamabad, both sides entered talks aimed at ending the war. By early May, White House officials believed a settlement was within reach. Then Tehran went silent, delaying its response for more than ten days.

That silence triggered alarms in Washington. Officials began suspecting that Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were being overruled behind the scenes by the IRGC, stripping them of any mandate to finalise an agreement. The episode highlighted a persistent difficulty in US-Iran diplomacy: identifying who truly controls national-security decisions in Tehran.

Why a Kurdish President Was the Right Call

Around May 10, then-US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard contacted Barzani and asked him to help establish communication with IRGC commander Gen Ahmad Vahidi. Barzani’s background made him an unusual but fitting intermediary: he had lived in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, studied at the University of Tehran, speaks Farsi fluently, and maintains relationships with senior Iranian officials, including figures inside the IRGC.

“Nechirvan Barzani is a pragmatic problem solver,” Brett McGurk, who has served as a Middle East adviser to four US presidents, told Axios. “He’s respected across the region.”

The Encrypted Call from Erbil

Acting on Gabbard’s request, Barzani reached out to his IRGC contacts and asked for a direct conversation with Vahidi. On May 14, an IRGC official arrived at Barzani’s office in Erbil carrying an encrypted phone for a secure call, the report noted.

During that conversation, Barzani asked Vahidi whether he supported the Iranian negotiating team. Vahidi confirmed he did and stated that the IRGC preferred to resolve the crisis through negotiations, according to a source cited by Axios. Barzani then briefed Gabbard, who relayed the information to the White House.

A Proposal That Never Materialised

Armed with confirmation that the IRGC was not openly opposed to talks, the Trump administration proposed that Barzani host secret negotiations between senior US and Iranian officials in Erbil. Iran did not immediately reject the idea but voiced concerns about delegate security, fearing Israeli intelligence could target them in Iraqi Kurdistan. The proposed Erbil meeting ultimately never took place.

Where Things Stand

Pakistan and Qatar have continued to shuttle messages between the two capitals, but regional sources cited by Axios indicated no significant progress had been made. Some observers believe Pakistani mediators have painted a more optimistic picture of the talks in an effort to generate momentum and break the stalemate.

Barzani himself has recently sent messages to the White House offering to help restart US-Iran negotiations, according to a source cited by Axios. Yet McGurk argued the central obstacle was never the choice of intermediary.

“It’s Iran’s policy on the Strait of Hormuz,” McGurk said, “and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.”

The US and Iran had eventually reached a memorandum of understanding during the earlier round of talks, but that agreement subsequently collapsed — a reminder that even formal frameworks have not yet resolved the structural impasse between the two powers.

FAQ

Who is Nechirvan Barzani and why was he chosen for the backchannel? Barzani is president of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He was selected because of his fluency in Farsi, his years studying in Tehran, and his personal relationships with senior Iranian officials, including IRGC figures.

What happened during the May 14 encrypted call? An IRGC official delivered an encrypted phone to Barzani’s Erbil office. Barzani spoke directly with IRGC commander Gen Ahmad Vahidi, who confirmed support for the Iranian