Kurdistan Region's Barzani mediated between US and Iran, report says

WASHINGTON, United States — WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump formally asked Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani to mediate a secret channel with Iran because other regional intermediaries had failed to produce results, according to a report published on August 16, 2026. The request was relayed through US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard after the United States concluded that Iran has no single decision-making authority and that the final word rests with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the report by journalist Barak Ravid said. Mediators from Pakistan, Qatar, Oman and Turkey had previously struggled to advance talks, particularly after delays in implementing the Islamabad agreements. Barzani's selection was driven by his command of Farsi, his long-standing relationships inside Iranian political circles, and his balanced ties with both Washington and Tehran, according to the report. The United States subsequently asked the Kurdistan Region president to host US negotiation teams in Erbil. Iranian officials did not travel to Erbil on security grounds but accepted that the talks could proceed. The report frames the arrangement as evidence that Washington continues to view the Kurdistan Region as a distinctive piece of its Middle East strategy, anchored in personal trust between the US president and Barzani.