Elon Musk has been named head of a new Ministry of “Government Effectiveness”.
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“Hidden meeting”, “new diplomatic path” or “betrayal”: the press in Iran is divided on Saturday over the meeting – not confirmed at this stage by Tehran – between Elon Musk and the Iranian ambassador to the UN and invites us not to “exaggerate” its scope.
According to the “New York Times”, American businessman Elon Musk, support of President-elect Donald Trump, met with Iran’s ambassador to the UN to “ease tensions” between Tehran and his country. Neither Iran nor Elon Musk have commented on this information.
The American daily, which cites two anonymous Iranian sources, claims that the meeting lasted more than an hour on Monday in New York between Elon Musk and Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani.
“Although this news and this conversation are not official, they can be considered the beginning of a new path in the foreign policy of our country,” said the daily “Jomhouri Eslami”, founded after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The newspaper does not name Elon Musk in its article, but mentions “a well-known and influential person close to Donald Trump”.
“Hidden meeting with Trump’s representative, naivety or betrayal?!”, asks the very conservative Kayhan on the front page, who criticizes “negotiations” with the United States, described as a “terrorist regime”.
The United States and Iran, once close allies, severed diplomatic relations in 1980, shortly after the Islamic Revolution that toppled the Washington-backed Pahlavi dynasty.
During his first term (2017-2021), Donald Trump was the architect of a so-called “maximum pressure” policy against Iran and reestablished heavy sanctions, which the Biden administration has maintained.
Iran sent Donald Trump a signal of openness by calling on him in early November to adopt a new policy against him, while Washington accused Tehran of being involved in a plan to assassinate the future tenant of the House. White.
“The news of the meeting between Elon Musk and Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani shows that the (diplomatic) path is not one-way and that the Iranian diplomatic team is on the right track,” welcomes the reformist daily Ham Mihan. And to emphasize that “many consider Elon Musk to be the man in the shadows” of Donald Trump, with “a very special influence” on him.
The meeting, if confirmed, would represent “a positive step”, estimates the reformist newspaper “Shargh”, which however invites “not to exaggerate its significance”.
For its part, Iran “categorically” denied on Saturday any meeting between American businessman Elon Musk and its ambassador to the UN, and expressed its “surprise” at the media coverage of the affair, according to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaïl Baghaï, quoted by the official Irna agency.
The daily “New York Times” claimed that American businessman Elon Musk, support of President-elect Donald Trump, met Monday with Iran’s ambassador to the UN to “ease tensions” between Tehran and its country.
(afp)
