Elon Musk met Iran’s ambassador to the UN a day earlier than he was made joint head of Donald Trump’s new value slicing division, the BBC’s US associate CBS has confirmed.
The assembly passed off at ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani ‘s residence in New York, with the intention of discussing the best way to ease tensions between the 2 nations, based on the New York Instances which first reported the story.
It isn’t clear if President-elect Trump or his nationwide safety group have been conscious of the assembly.
A number of of the latest appointees to Trump’s nationwide safety group, together with Mike Waltz and Marco Rubio are identified Iran hawks, believing the US ought to take a troublesome 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, based on the New York Instances.
The newspaper additionally stated 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 stated “We don’t touch upon studies 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 corporations from doing enterprise in Iran.
Trump additionally ordered the air strike which killed Iranian navy commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
The president-elect can also be a robust 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 lately appointed joint head of Donald Trump’s new value slicing division, which can advise on authorities value slicing however won’t be an official arm of the federal government.
The tech billionaire and Tesla boss additionally joined Trump in a cellphone name with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and has performed a key function in offering communications to Ukraine’s navy through his Starlink satellite tv for pc web system.
