Elon Musk has met with Iran's ambassador to the UN, in what was billed as an effort to defuse tensions between Tehran and Washington, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

Citing two Iranian officials, the US newspaper described the encounter between the tech billionaire and Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani as "positive."

After vehemently supporting Donald Trump's campaign for the White House, it would appear the world's richest man has received an even more elevated position within the corridors of power than being tasked with cutting federal waste, as was announced earlier this week.

Musk and the ambassador met for more than an hour at a secret location on Monday, according to the report in The New York Times. Neither the Trump team nor Iran's mission to the UN confirmed the encounter.

The two Iranian officials told the US paper that the meeting with Musk provided a workaround for Iran, allowing it to avoid directly meeting an American official as Musk does not yet have a position in the incoming administration. 

Trump gives mixed signals over Iran stance

The reported meeting could suggest that Trump is serious about diplomacy with Iran.

In his last stint in office, Trump ripped up a deal on Iran's nuclear program negotiated under his presidential predecessor, Barack Obama, and instead pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" by ramping up sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Where Israel stands in all of this remains to be seen, with Trump close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has ordered military strikes on Iran in tandem with maintaining its war on Hamas.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, seen as a moderate, told the visiting head of the UN nuclear watchdog on Thursday that Tehran wanted to clear up doubts about the country's "peaceful" nuclear program.

jsi/sms (AFP, Reuters)