Iran Denies Report of ‘Backchannel’ Negotiations with U.S.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Monday dismissed “fabricated” reports in American media of secret “backchannel” negotiations between the U.S. government and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The report on backchannel communications, published by Axios on Sunday, said that former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard set up the line of communications in May, using the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, as a go-between.
According to the report, Barzani used his ties with the IRGC to get in touch with its leader, Gen. Ahmad Vahidi. Vahidi said he supported the work of Iran’s negotiators, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
Barzani relayed the message back to Gabbard, providing important information at a time when many observers thought the IRGC was working to sabotage negotiations. It was also unclear at the time whether Aragchi, or any other representative of Iran’s secular government, had any real power to make an agreement with the United States.
The report said the Trump administration wanted to open this channel of communication wider, developing Barzani into an intermediary, and possibly even arranging direct talks between American and Iranian representatives in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. The Iranians allegedly balked at this proposal, in part because they feared Israel might try to assassinate any representatives they sent to Erbil. (Read more from “Iran Denies Report of ‘Backchannel’ Negotiations with U.S.” HERE)
