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Report: Secret U.S. Contacts with Iran Since 2007
(Daily Beast) Eli Lake - In 2007, 2008 and 2009, the U.S. intelligence community participated in talks led by the U.S. embassy in Baghdad with representatives of Qassem Suleimani, the commander of Iran's Quds Force and the man currently reported to be helping lead Iraq's ground campaign against the Islamic State. To date, much of the details of the diplomacy and even the interim deal between Iran and the West that resulted from private discussions with the Iranians in Oman are shrouded in secrecy. "The Iranians insisted on secrecy, for them the sensitivity about meeting bilaterally with Americans is very acute," said Gary Samore, who served as the White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction in Obama's first term.