US had secret backchannel with IRGC, learned it supports Iran’s negotiators – report

The White House established a secret backchannel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a Sunday report, which said that the United States has been informed that the IRGC stands behind the positions of the Iranian negotiators in their talks with Washington.According to Axios, citing three unnamed sources, US officials feared that talks with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf were liable to be undermined by the IRGC, which is thought to be the most powerful group behind Iran’s leadership.In May, three months into the war launched by the US and Israeli strikes, then-director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reached out to Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, who has close ties to the IRGC, to attempt to find out the position of its leader, Gen. Ahmad Vahidi.A few days later, Barzani arranged a phone call with Vahidi, during which the…
A Sunday report revealed that the White House established a secret backchannel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to ascertain their stance on negotiations. In May, then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard contacted Nechirvan Barzani, President of the Kurdistan region, who has ties to the IRGC, to inquire about General Ahmad Vahidi's position. Vahidi confirmed the IRGC's support for Iran's negotiators, stating, "I fully support them and this is also the position of the IRGC. We prefer to solve this crisis through negotiations." The Trump administration attempted to arrange direct talks in Erbil, Iraq, but Iran declined due to security concerns. While a framework for peace talks was signed at a subsequent summit, negotiations have since collapsed. Amidst these developments, Iran's military announced a bounty of $30,000 for killing or capturing US soldiers, with a doubled reward for women.
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