The Trump administration secretly opened a backchannel to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in May after U.S. officials questioned whether Tehran’s formal negotiators had the authority to make a deal, Axios reported Sunday. Washington turned to Iraqi Kurdish President Nechirvan Barzani, who maintains ties with both U.S. officials and senior figures in Iran.

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 the report. She asked him to determine whether IRGC commander Gen. Ahmad Vahidi supported negotiations being conducted by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

On May 14, an IRGC official reportedly arrived at Barzani’s office in Erbil carrying an encrypted phone for a secure call with Vahidi. Asked whether he backed the Iranian negotiating team, Vahidi replied: “I fully support them and this is also the position of the IRGC. We prefer to solve this crisis through negotiations.” Barzani then immediately briefed Gabbard on the response.

The administration later proposed using Erbil for secret talks between senior American and Iranian negotiators. Iranian officials did not reject the idea, but reportedly feared Israeli intelligence could assassinate them in Iraqi Kurdistan or while traveling there, and the meeting never took place.

Pakistani and Qatari mediators continue passing messages between Washington and Tehran, but the talks have made little progress. Barzani has recently offered the White House his help in restarting negotiations, according to Axios.