Iran has “categorically” denied any meeting between its ambassador to the UN and businessman Elon Musk, close to the elected American president, to “ease tensions” with the United States, as claimed Thursday the New York Times.
After his election, Tehran sent Donald Trump a signal of openness by calling on him in early November to adopt a new policy towards the Islamic Republic. Mr. Trump was, during his first term (2017-2021), the architect of a so-called “maximum pressure” policy against Iran and reestablished heavy sanctions, which the administration of Joe Biden maintained.
“It’s unlikely that he (Donald Trump) would want to talk to Iran,” said Saïd Sohrabi, a private sector employee. “If, for their interests, they (the Americans) need to make peace, they will do so. If it is through war, they will follow this path,” said this 53-year-old man, met in the upscale Vanak district, known for its shopping centers.
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. The two countries have since exchanged indirectly through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents American interests in Iran, but also the Sultanate of Oman which generally serves as an intermediary.
The head of Iranian diplomacy, Abbas Araghchi, declared on Wednesday that indirect channels of communication with the United States were still active. “As Trump is a businessman, people think he can conclude an agreement with Iran,” Ms Adassi, a 25-year-old student, told AFP, who did not wish to give her first name.
“Our current government is reformist and therefore more inclined to negotiate” with the United States, underlines the young woman covered in a black chador. In office since July, President Massoud Pezeshkian is in favor of dialogue with Western countries to achieve a partial lifting of the sanctions which are penalizing the Iranian economy. But the future American administration “looks more like a government of war, than of peace (…) or negotiation,” adds Ms. Adassi.
Donald Trump on Wednesday appointed Marco Rubio as head of American diplomacy, known to be hostile to China and Iran. “The Iranian nation is very gentle and does not ask for much,” assures Fatemeh Salehi, along a busy sidewalk where clothes and handicrafts are sold. “She just wants peace and a normal economy,” insists this 72-year-old housewife.
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