Iranian authorities have said they have not met with Elon Musk, a close aide to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, to discuss improving bilateral relations.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bagai flatly denied media reports that Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Amir Said Iravani met with Musk on the 16th local time, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Bagai expressed surprise that U.S. media had spread "fake news" about the meeting, the outlet said.
Citing two Iranian officials, the U.S. daily New York Times reported on the 14th that Musk and Ambassador Irabani met in New York for more than an hour on the 11th.
Citing U.S. sanctions on Iran, Irabani reportedly suggested Musk should be exempt from sanctions by the Treasury Department and bring some of his business to Iran.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported late last month that Musk had regularly communicated with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022.
The Kremlin has denied that the two spoke only once before 2022, calling it "clearly fake information."
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