A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry denied the meeting.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday “categorically” denied the report of the American newspaper The New York Times (NYT), according to which the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations met with the American billionaire Elon Musk. This was reported by the Iranian state media, reports TASR according to the AFP agency.
The spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Diplomacy, Esmail Baghaji, told the IRNA news agency that he “categorically denied such a meeting” and expressed “surprise at the coverage by the American media in this direction.”
Elon Musk was supposed to meet with the ambassador as part of an effort to defuse tensions
Billionaire Elon Musk, a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, met with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in an effort to ease tensions between Tehran and Washington, according to a NYT report on Thursday.
The newspaper quoted anonymous Iranian sources, according to which the meeting of the richest man in the world with Ambassador Amir Said Íravani was “positive”. The meeting on Monday lasted more than an hour at a secret location. Neither party immediately confirmed the meeting, Iran’s diplomatic representation at the UN refused to comment on the matter at the time.
During his previous tenure as president, Trump withdrew from the world powers’ agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” towards Tehran. But this year, during the election campaign, he said that he was open to diplomacy.
