Monday, August 17, 2026
Just a Thought
On Sunday, Axios reported that Kurdistan Regional Government President Nechirvan Barzani had been tapped as the secret backchannel, citing three sources with direct knowledge of the talks.
Notably, Barzani lived in Iran during the Iraq-Iran War in the 1980s, studied at the University of Tehran, speaks fluent Farsi, and has personal relationships with several members of the IRGC.
Trump added that Iran should raise "the white flag of surrender," and that he has "no time schedule" and is in "no hurry" to make a deal.
The Iranian's are "good poker players, but they're dying," said Trump.
Iranian army chief Amir Hatami said there were a “large number of requests” for bounties to be put on the American soldiers despite the lack of US ground forces in Iran.
“Anyone who kills or captures and hands over an invading American military personnel will receive a reward equivalent to $30,000 or 5 billion tomans from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army,” Hatami told IRNA.
“Courageous Iranian women who carry out such an action will receive double the reward,” he added.
The army chief even claimed that the weapon used to kill an American would be kept in a supposed museum currently under planning.

