In a sign of his growing sway in the new Trump administration, billionaire Elon Musk held a private meeting with Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani to help defuse mounting tensions between the US and Iran, The New York Times reported, citing sources.
According to the daily, Iranian sources described the Monday meeting, held at a confidential location and lasting over an hour, as "positive". An Iranian Foreign Ministry official told NYT that Iravani urged Musk to explore potential business opportunities in Iran and push for US sanctions exemptions.
Musk, who has become a constant at President-elect Donald Trump’s side since his re-election and jokingly styled himself as ‘First Buddy’ on social media, is yet to comment on the meeting. The Trump team also declined to confirm it.
"We do not comment on reports of private meetings that did or did not occur," Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, told NYT. Iran’s mission to the United Nations, too, refrained from commenting on the meeting.
In his previous term in the White House, Trump had abandoned the Iran nuclear deal firmed up by President Barack Obama, instead slapping Tehran with "maximum pressure" sanctions aimed at curtailing its oil exports, according to news agency AFP.
But deploying Musk as peacemaker signals a possible turnaround from Trump and an openness to diplomacy with Iran, contrasting with the more aggressive strategies advocated by hawkish conservatives in the Republican Party. It could also complicate relations with Israel, which the outgoing Biden administration has constantly backed in its right to defend itself against aggression.
Meanwhile, Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, has taken on an increasingly prominent role in Trump’s White House team, from attending interviews with possible Cabinet picks to sitting in on conversations with world leaders. He was on the line when Trump dialled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his election victory.
Trump rewarded Musk for contributing hundreds of millions to his campaign and being his most vocal cheerleader by putting him in charge of a new Department of Government Efficiency, alongside Indian-origin entrepreneur and former Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy
However, the Tesla CEO's widening influence and his constant presence at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida estate, is reportedly causing some discontent within the President-elect's inner circle.
"He’s behaving as if he’s a co-president and making sure everyone knows it," an insider told NBC News. Another source told Politico that Musk is "getting a little big for his britches."
