The backchannel: Here's how the United States and Iran communicate by emilyctamkin
Hours after a U.S. drone strike killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Washington sent a message to Tehran through the Swiss Embassy urging the Iranians not to escalate.
That role has changed over the years. At present, it means trying to quietly de-escalate a tense situation between Washington and Tehran, a task in which Switzerland is backed by other, unofficial backchannels. In an interview with this reporter in 2018, Guldimann said he was the messenger, not the creator. He described his role in the Swiss backchannel as that of a “postman” delivering messages between the United States and Iran.
But Switzerland is not the only country to serve as a backchannel, though it is the officially recognized one. Other countries in the Middle East and Europe have played their own parts, either in setting the stage or attempting to create the conditions for U.S.-Iran deliberations.
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