Elon Musk, the tech billionaire closely allied with US President-elect Donald Trump, met Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in a bid to defuse tensions between Iran and the United States, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The newspaper quoted anonymous Iranian sources as describing the meeting between the world’s richest person and Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani as “positive.”
The two met for more than an hour at a secret location on Monday, the newspaper said.
Neither the Trump transitional team nor Iran’s mission to the United Nations immediately confirmed the encounter.
The meeting, if confirmed, could offer an early indication that Trump is serious about diplomacy with Iran and not choosing the more hawkish approach favored by many conservatives in his Republican Party as well as Israel.
It would also show again the extraordinary influence of Musk, the owner of Tesla and X who has been a near constant presence at Trump’s side, reportedly joining him on telephone calls with world leaders.
Trump in his last term in office tore up a deal on Iran’s nuclear program negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama and instead pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” that included working to force other nations not to buy Iran’s oil.
But Trump has cast himself as a great deal-maker and during his latest campaign has voiced an openness to diplomacy, despite his avowed support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has ordered military strikes on Iran in tandem with Israel’s war on Hamas.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, considered a moderate within the clerical state, on Thursday told the visiting head of the UN nuclear watchdog that Tehran wanted to clear up doubts about the country’s “peaceful” nuclear program.
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© Agence France-Presse
