Trump Used Kurdistan's Barzani as Backchannel to IRGC After Khamenei's Death
· World · Times of India, LiveMint
The Donald Trump administration utilized Iraq's Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani as a backchannel to contact the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps amid efforts to end the war with Iran. Washington bypassed official Iranian negotiators, including parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, due to uncertainty over whether they held the authority to commit the powerful military force. White House officials grew suspicious in early May that official negotiators were being overruled, prompting the shift to Barzani. Barzani was chosen because of his trusted status with both US and Iranian leaders, long-standing ties to Tehran, and fluency in Farsi. Although US and Iranian officials eventually reached a memorandum of understanding, the agreement quickly collapsed.
Why it matters
The episode underscores the difficulty Washington faces in identifying who holds decision-making power in Tehran, potentially complicating any future peace negotiations between the US and Iran.
Read the original report — Times of India
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