On Saturday, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman “categorically” denied it. New York Times State media reported that Tehran’s ambassador to the United Nations met with American technology billionaire Elon Musk.
In an interview with the government news agency IrnaForeign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghi was quoted as saying that he “categorically denies such a meeting” and expresses “his astonishment at the American media’s coverage in this regard.”
The times It was reported on Friday that Musk, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, met earlier this week with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani.
It quoted anonymous Iranian sources who described the meeting as “positive.”
Iranian newspapers, especially those allied with the reformist party that supports President Masoud Pezeshkian, described the meeting in largely positive terms before Baghaei’s statement.
In the weeks leading up to Trump’s re-election, Iranian officials expressed their willingness to resolve issues with the West.
Iran and the United States severed diplomatic relations shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the US-backed Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Since then, the two countries have communicated through the Swiss embassy in Tehran and the Sultanate of Oman.