Elon Musk met with Iran’s ambassador to the UN one day before he was appointed as joint head of Donald Trump’s new spending cuts department, the BBC’s US partner CBS has confirmed.
The meeting was held at the residence of ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani in New York, with the aim of discussing how to ease the tension between the two countries, according to the New York Times, which first reported this issue.
It is not clear whether President-elect Trump or his security team knew about the meeting.
Several recent appointees to Trump’s national security team, including Mike Waltz and Marco Rubio are known Iran hawks, who believe the US should take tougher action against Iran.
The US does not have diplomatic relations with Tehran but a private meeting with Musk provided a workaround, allowing Iran to avoid meeting the US official, according to the New York Times.
The newspaper also said that Musk requested a meeting with the ambassador, and that he was described by Iranian officials as “good” and “good news”.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said, “We do not comment on reports of private meetings that did or did not occur.”
Iran’s mission to the UN and the White House declined CBS News’ request for comment.
In his first term as president, Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, which was established in 2015 under President Barack Obama, and reinstated tough economic sanctions that largely prevent American companies from doing business in Iran.
Trump also ordered an air strike that killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
The president-elect is a staunch supporter of Israel, which has been fighting Iran-backed groups Hamas and Hezbollah since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 last year.
It was Musk newly appointed co-head of Donald Trump’s new spending cuts department, which will advise on federal spending cuts but will not be an official arm of the government.
The tech billionaire and Tesla boss also joined Trump on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and played a key role in providing the Ukrainian military with communications through his Starlink satellite internet system.
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