Foreign Relations

Secret Trump-IRGC Backchannel Through Iraqi Kurdistan Revealed

Published

Courtroom-sketch editorial illustration of a suited Kurdish official wearing an earpiece at a podium before the Iraqi and Kurdistan flags.

Then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard asked Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani around May 10 to open a channel to IRGC commander Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, with approval from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. On May 14, an IRGC official brought an encrypted phone to Barzani's Erbil office for a secure call in which Vahidi said the Revolutionary Guard backed Iran's negotiators and preferred a negotiated resolution. Barzani briefed Gabbard, who briefed the White House. A proposed secret follow-up meeting in Erbil never occurred because Tehran feared Israeli intelligence could target its delegates.

Sources

Secondary sources:1

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