Axios: Mediators shuttle messages between US and Iran with no breakthrough

Mediators are persistently conveying messages between the United States and Iran, but no substantial breakthrough has been reported, according to Axios. The source notes that Pakistan has been offering assessments that are overly optimistic, contributing to a perceived momentum that may not reflect the true state of affairs. American negotiators were grappling with a significant hurdle in mid-May when they struggled to ascertain whether the parties they were negotiating with were genuinely authorized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to speak on its behalf.

In a unique move, officials from the administration of former US President Donald Trump bypassed the Iranian negotiators and initiated direct communication with the leadership of the Revolutionary Guard. They chose Nechirvan Barzani, the President of Iraq's Kurdistan Region, to facilitate this backchannel dialogue. These steps underscore the intricate challenges of negotiations with a nation where determining the actual decision-makers can be complex.

Despite reaching a memorandum of understanding, this agreement disintegrated quickly. Axios highlights that the primary challenge for the Trump administration—and for any future negotiations—is verifying the authority of dialogue partners and identifying mediators who are respected by both the White House and the Iranian regime.