Elon Musk reportedly met with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations on Monday, a day before Donald Trump named the SpaceX founder as one of the directors of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
According to two Iranian officials who spoke to The New York Times, the meeting discussed how to ease tensions between Iran and the United States. One Iranian official said Tesla executives requested the meeting and the ambassador chose the location.
As President Trump prepares to deal with conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Musk, the world’s richest man, has been helping with talks with foreign officials and was named the country’s most influential civilian in January. has established its position.
Earlier this month, Musk was a guest on a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, thanking Musk for providing satellites to Ukraine through his company Starlink. It is said that it was expressed.
“He’s currently engaged with the Iranians,” Sheena Toosi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, said of Musk. “And this could be a very big deal because Iran hasn’t brought Americans directly into negotiations since before President Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.”
President Trump’s relationship with Iran is rocky, to say the least. During his term as president, he decided to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal reached in 2015 under President Barack Obama and reinstated harsh economic sanctions against Iran.
Also, while in office, President Trump ordered a U.S. strike in January 2020 that killed Major General Qassim Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force. Information provided to Trump campaign staff in September revealed that Iran was seeking to assassinate him. .
“Whether the United States can successfully negotiate with Iran under the Trump administration depends on Musk or whoever leads these negotiations, and who is dedicated to the negotiation process and willing to do the hard work in the actual diplomatic process.” ‘It will involve international relations as well,’ Tusi added.
Complicating matters is Trump’s strong support for Israel, which could pave the way for an all-out war between Israel and Iran if he becomes president. Israel has been at war with Iranian-backed groups Hamas and Hezbollah since the attack on October 7 last year.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said in Thursday’s X-Post: “Differences can be resolved through cooperation and dialogue. We agreed to move forward with courage and goodwill. Iran has never left the negotiating table regarding its peaceful nuclear program.”
Tusi said Musk may be more “pragmatic” on issues related to foreign policy, but that is still not enough to improve relations between the United States and Tehran.
“We are on the brink of an all-out regional war,” he said. “To restart this process, President Trump will need technical experts on nuclear and regional issues, working groups, honest interlocutors, and honest negotiators.”
