Iran official met Elon Musk to ease tensions with President-elect Donald Trump, US official says

Iran successfully sought a meeting with Elon Musk, according to a US official, one in a series of steps that appeared aimed at easing tensions with US president-elect Donald Trump.

Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani met with billionaire Musk — a Trump ally named this week to advise his administration on ways to cut federal government spending - on Monday in New York, according to a US official briefed on the meeting by a foreign colleague.

The official said he had been informed that the discussion covered a variety of topics, most notably Iran’s nuclear program, its support for anti-Israel groups throughout the Middle East and prospects for improved relations with the United States.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a non-US governmental meeting, said no immediate decisions were taken by either side.

The official said the Iranian delegation sought the meeting with Musk, the world’s richest man, and that it did not take place at the Iranian mission to the UN.

The Trump transition team would not confirm or deny the meeting, which was first reported by The New York Times.

However, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported on Saturday that Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei denied the country’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani met Musk in New York and expressed surprise at the media coverage on this subject.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also strongly denied the meeting had taken place.

“This was a fabricated story by American media, and the motives behind this can also be speculated,” Araqchi said.

Iran’s alleged outreach comes as Trump has been announcing picks for key foreign policy posts - including senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state and representative Mike Waltz for national security adviser — who are expected to be tough on Iran.

Intelligence officials have said Iran opposed Trump’s second term, seeing him as more likely to increase tension between the two countries’ governments.

Trump’s administration ended a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani — an act that prompted Iran’s leaders to vow revenge.

The US Justice Department in November revealed a murder-for-hire plot to kill Trump, charging a man who said he had been tasked by an Iranian government official in September with planning Trump’s assassination.

The Iranian foreign ministry rejected the report.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed US officials, that Iran told the administration of US President Joe Biden in a written message delivered on October 14 that it would not try to kill Trump.

It was a response to an earlier warning from the US that an attempt on Trump’s life would be considered an act of war, the Journal reported.

with Reuters