The Trump administration secretly bypassed Iran’s official negotiating team and opened a direct backchannel to the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after the White House became concerned that Tehran’s negotiators did not have the authority to finalize an agreement, Axios reports.

The effort began in mid-May amid uncertainty over who was actually calling the shots in Tehran following the war. The assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior political leaders, along with uncertainty surrounding new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei during the first weeks of the war, had significantly strengthened the IRGC’s influence over national security and foreign policy. U.S. officials increasingly suspected that Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were being overruled by the IRGC as negotiations stalled.

Around May 10, then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard contacted Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, and asked him to establish direct contact with IRGC commander Gen. Ahmad Vahidi. The outreach was made with the approval of President Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Barzani, who has longstanding relationships with senior Iranian officials, agreed but insisted on speaking directly with Vahidi.

On May 14, an IRGC official arrived at Barzani’s office in Erbil carrying an encrypted phone for a secure conversation with Vahidi. Asked whether the IRGC supported Iran’s negotiating team, Vahidi responded: “I fully support them and this is also the position of the IRGC. We prefer to solve this crisis through negotiations.” Barzani immediately relayed the response to Gabbard, who briefed the White House.

The Trump administration later proposed secret face-to-face talks between senior U.S. and Iranian officials in Erbil. Iranian officials did not rule out the proposal but feared Israeli intelligence could target them while traveling to or meeting in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the meeting never materialized. Pakistani and Qatari mediators continue exchanging messages between Washington and Tehran without significant progress, while Barzani has recently offered the White House his assistance in restarting negotiations.

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