Axios: Trump team tapped Kurdish leader to reach Iran’s powerful IRGC

US negotiators seeking an agreement with Iran to end the war faced a fundamental problem in mid-May. They were unsure whether Iranian officials at the negotiating table had the authority to speak for the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Axios reports.

According to three sources with direct knowledge cited in a previously unreported account, the Trump administration sought to bypass Iran’s negotiators and establish a direct channel to IRGC leadership through Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.

Barzani was chosen because of his relationships with both US officials and senior Iranian figures. During the Iran-Iraq War, he lived in Iran and studied at the University of Tehran. He is fluent in Farsi and has longstanding ties to members of Iran’s political and security establishment.

“Nechirvan Barzani is a pragmatic problem solver. He's respected across the region. He knows nearly everyone in Tehran as well as Washington. That's who you call in a pinch,” Brett McGurk, a former Middle East adviser to four US presidents, said.

Around May 10, then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called Barzani with the approval of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to sources. She asked whether IRGC Commander General Ahmad Vahidi supported negotiations being conducted by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Barzani subsequently contacted the IRGC. On May 14, an Iranian official arrived at his office in Erbil carrying an encrypted phone for a secure call with Vahidi.

Barzani asked whether Vahidi was aligned with Iran’s negotiating team. “I fully support them and this is also the position of the IRGC. We prefer to solve this crisis through negotiations,” Vahidi said, according to a source familiar with the conversation.

Barzani then briefed Gabbard, who relayed the message to the White House. Washington subsequently proposed holding secret US-Iran talks in Erbil.

The proposal did not materialize, however, as Iranian officials reportedly feared Israeli intelligence operations in Iraqi Kurdistan and possible assassination attempts.

The episode highlights the difficulty Washington faces in determining who holds decisive authority in Tehran, particularly after the war strengthened the IRGC’s influence over national security and foreign policy.

Pakistani and Qatari mediators continue to exchange messages between Washington and Tehran, but regional sources say there has been little progress.

Barzani has recently offered to help restart negotiations. “It's Iran's policy on the Strait,” McGurk said, “and that's unlikely to change anytime soon.”

By Vafa Guliyeva