Elon Musk met Iran’s ambassador to the UN a day earlier than he was made joint head of Donald Trump’s new value reducing division, the BBC’s US companion CBS has confirmed.
The assembly came about at ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani ‘s residence in New York, with the goal of discussing the best way to ease tensions between the 2 nations, in line with the New York Occasions which first reported the story.
It isn’t clear if President-elect Trump or his nationwide safety workforce have been conscious of the assembly.
A number of of the current appointees to Trump’s nationwide safety workforce, together with Mike Waltz and Marco Rubio are recognized Iran hawks, believing the US ought to take a tricky stance towards Iran.
The US doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Tehran however a personal assembly with Musk offered a workaround, permitting Iran to keep away from a gathering with an American official, in line with the New York Occasions.
The newspaper additionally mentioned that Musk requested the assembly with the ambassador, and that it was described by Iranian officers as “constructive” and “excellent news”.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung mentioned “We don’t touch upon experiences of personal conferences that did or didn’t happen.”
The Iranian mission to the UN and the White Home declined a request for remark from CBS Information.
Throughout his first time period as president, Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal, brokered in 2015 throughout Barack Obama’s presidency, and reinstated harsh financial sanctions which largely prohibit US firms from doing enterprise in Iran.
Trump additionally ordered the air strike which killed Iranian army commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
The president-elect can be a powerful supporter of Israel, which has been at battle with the Iranian-backed teams Hamas and Hezbollah since Hamas’s 7 October assault on Israel final yr.
Musk was not too long ago appointed joint head of Donald Trump’s new value reducing division, which can advise on authorities value reducing however won’t be an official arm of the federal government.
The tech billionaire and Tesla boss additionally joined Trump in a telephone name with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and has performed a key position in offering communications to Ukraine’s army by way of his Starlink satellite tv for pc web system.