Iraqi Kurdistan emerges as a key diplomatic bridge between US and Iran - analysis

Nechirvan Barzani’s ties with Washington, Tehran and regional Kurdish actors have positioned Iraqi Kurdistan as a key diplomatic bridge.

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq is uniquely placed at the intersection of several powerful states and regional trends, enabling it to play an important role beyond the size of the autonomous region.

Rarely do states or autonomous regions play such an important role in international relations and regional stability.

According to Iran International, “Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani played a role in relaying messages between the United States and Iran and in efforts to ease tensions, a spokesperson confirmed to Iran International on Sunday.”

This is an important development. It confirms reporting by Axios that said in “mid-May, US negotiators trying to reach a deal with Iran to end the war ran into a problem: They couldn’t tell if the people across the table actually spoke for the country’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”

That report noted that the Trump administration “went around Iran’s negotiators and reached out directly to IRGC leadership. The person they tapped for the back channel was Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, who had something very few others do: the trust of both US and IRGC leaders.”

Barzani’s regional diplomatic role

Barzani is a highly competent leader who has been president of the Kurdistan Region (KRG) for most of the last decade. He has long been seen as a figure who prefers diplomacy and quiet work behind the scenes.

Barzani has often sought to advance the region’s interests through economic development. He came to power when the region was under pressure from Iran and Baghdad. This was in the wake of an independence referendum that saw the KRG isolated.

Today the KRG has good relations with Turkey, Baghdad, the US, the Gulf, Europe and many countries. It also has relatively decent ties with Iran.

These ties are tested by the fact that Iran has backed more than 1,000 attacks on the Kurdistan Region. Barzani has sought to prevent the attacks while not escalating tensions. What we now know is that Nechirvan Barzani was also playing a role behind the scenes to try to reduce tensions in the region.

As Iran International noted, “the confirmation follows an earlier Axios report that the Trump administration turned to Barzani in May to establish a direct channel with the leadership of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.”

“One of the consistent principles of Barzani’s policy is that problems and disagreements should be resolved through dialogue and negotiations,” a KRG spokesperson named Dilshad Shahab said.

“The Kurdistan Region of Iraq, before the war, during the war and afterward, has consistently emphasized that dialogue and negotiations are the only way to resolve existing disputes and tensions,” he said, according to Iran International.

“A Kurdistan Regional Government official separately told Iran International that Barzani had been asked to play the role because of his good relations with both the United States and Iran.”

Barzani had to flee with his family when he was younger, leaving Iraq to move to Iran because of suppression of Kurds. He studied in Iran and is very knowledgeable about the country. Kurds are a large minority group who reside in Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Turkey. As such, the Kurdistan Region in Iraq sits as a kind of hinge between Turkey, Iran, and Iraq.

Kurdistan’s role in Syria and Turkey

Barzani has played a role not only in working with the US and Iran but also in trying to ease issues in Syria. In Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are supposed to integrate into the new Syrian government’s security forces. However, this process has been fraught with challenges.

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has stepped in to help smooth things over in Syria. One issue is that the SDF’s political arm had often suppressed Kurdish groups linked to the KRG. The KRG’s leading party is the KDP, which the Barzani family leads. The SDF and its political arm were far-left-leaning in their outlook and were accused of being linked to the PKK.

The PKK and KDP are rivals, with the KDP expressing a more nationalist and centrist form of Kurdish politics, in contrast to the PKK’s far-left communist background. The KRG and KDP enjoy amicable relations with Turkey, while Ankara views the PKK as a terrorist group.

This all matters because Barzani has played a role in trying to smooth these tensions in Syria and also in northern Iraq, where the Turkish army operates against the PKK. The PKK is supposed to disarm and dissolve itself.

As such, the Kurdistan Region today has a role to play not only in easing friction with Turkey, but also in Syria and Iran. It also has a role to play in backing Baghdad’s attempt to disarm Iranian-backed militias. Therefore, Barzani, and to a larger extent the region he leads, can be a key to peace in the region.