Elon Musk Confirmed to Have Met Iran’s UN Ambassador in New York

CBS, the BBC’s U.S. partner, has confirmed that Elon Musk held a meeting with Iran’s ambassador to the UN one day prior to his appointment as joint head of Donald Trump’s newly established cost-cutting department. The New York Times, which initially reported this event, stated that the encounter occurred at Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani’s residence in New York. Its purpose was to explore methods for de-escalating tensions between the two nations. Uncertainty remains regarding whether President-elect Trump or members of his national security team had knowledge of this meeting. According to the New York Times, numerous individuals recently appointed to Trump’s national security team, such as Mike Waltz and Marco Rubio, are recognized as “Iran hawks” who advocate for a firm U.S. approach toward Iran. Given that the U.S. lacks diplomatic ties with Tehran, a private discussion involving Musk offered an alternative, enabling Iran to circumvent a direct meeting with an American official. The same publication also indicated that Musk initiated the request for this meeting with the ambassador, and Iranian officials characterized it as “positive” and “good news”. Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, stated, “We do not comment on reports of private meetings that did or did not occur.” Both the Iranian mission to the UN and the White House declined to provide a comment when approached by CBS News. During his initial presidential term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal, which was negotiated in 2015 under Barack Obama’s presidency. He subsequently reimposed severe economic sanctions that largely prevent U.S. companies from conducting business in Iran. Additionally, in 2020, Trump authorized the airstrike that resulted in the death of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani. The president-elect is also known as a staunch supporter of Israel, a nation that has been engaged in conflict with the Iranian-backed organizations Hamas and Hezbollah since Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7 of last year. Musk recently received an appointment as joint head of Donald Trump’s newly formed cost-cutting department. This department is tasked with advising on government expenditure reductions but will not function as an official government entity. The technology billionaire and head of Tesla also participated with Trump in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Furthermore, he has been instrumental in supplying communication services to Ukraine’s military through his Starlink satellite internet system. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.