Vance says Iran has agreed to IAEA nuke inspections

Vice President Vance says US and Iran have made progress on key issues, including atomic inspectors and “mechanism” for ensuring free passage in the Strait of Hormuz.

By World Israel News Staff

Vice President JD Vance said Monday that talks between the United States and Iran in Switzerland major significant progress on the Strait of Hormuz open, preserving a ceasefire in Lebanon and restarting nuclear inspections in Iran, as technical negotiations continue toward a possible final agreement.

Speaking after high-level talks at the Bürgenstock resort near Lake Lucerne, Vance said the discussions did not produce a final peace deal but laid the groundwork for further negotiations involving Iran’s nuclear program, regional ceasefires, frozen Iranian assets and maritime security.

“We laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal,” Vance told reporters. “The final deal is the house. We set the foundation.”

The talks were mediated by Qatar and Pakistan and stretched from Sunday into early Monday.

Mediators said the sides had made “encouraging progress” and agreed to a roadmap aimed at reaching a final agreement within 60 days.

Aside from what Vance described as Iran’s agreement to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country, he said the talks achieved three main US goals: setting up “a mechanism for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open,” creating “a similar mechanism for deconfliction for the regional ceasefire,” and launching the process for technical negotiations.

The Lebanon mechanism is aimed mainly at preventing renewed escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, whose fighting has continued to threaten the broader US-Iran framework.

“As the president of the United States has himself said, sometimes these ceasefires just mean you’re shooting a little bit less,” Vance said.

“But we wanted to make sure that we had the proper coordination set up so that if there is shooting, if Hezbollah fires at Israel or if Israel responds, if there are other conflicts that arise in the region, we’re actually talking to each other and figuring out how to stop the shooting.”

Vance said technical talks would continue through the week.

“The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country,” Vance said, calling the step “a major milestone for the American people.”

He said discussions on nuclear inspections could begin as early as this week, though he cautioned that a final agreement remains uncertain.

The Strait of Hormuz was a central focus of the talks after Iran again threatened or restricted traffic through the waterway, one of the world’s most important oil and gas routes. The mechanism announced Monday is intended to maintain commercial passage and prevent incidents from escalating into direct confrontation.

Reuters reported that only five vessels passed through the strait on Sunday, down from 26 the previous day. The figure may exclude vessels that turned off their transponders while moving through the Gulf.

The talks followed an interim memorandum of understanding signed last week that extended a tenuous ceasefire and opened a 60-day window for a broader agreement. The framework also included discussions over sanctions relief, frozen Iranian funds, Lebanon and the future of Iran’s nuclear program.

Vance said Washington was trying to shift the relationship with Tehran after months of war.

President Donald Trump had “asked us to turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran,” Vance said.

“These things are always a little bit messy,” Vance said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the first round had ended successfully.

“The discussions were held in a positive and constructive atmosphere and yielded encouraging progress,” Sharif wrote on X.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had secured several concessions, including oil and petrochemical export waivers, access to some frozen assets and a reconstruction and development plan.

Vance also outlined a possible arrangement for any future release of frozen Iranian assets, saying the money would be supervised and channeled toward humanitarian purchases rather than being released freely to Tehran.

“If Iranian assets are ever unfrozen, they’re going to go to make American farmers richer and to feed the Iranian people,” Vance said.

The Lebanon track remains one of the most sensitive elements of the emerging framework.

Qatar and Pakistan said the sides had agreed to create a deconfliction cell involving the parties and Lebanon, facilitated by the mediators, to help ensure the cessation of military operations in Lebanon.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun discussed efforts to maintain the ceasefire and halt Israeli military escalation in a call with Vance, Qatar’s prime minister and White House envoy Jared Kushner, according to the Lebanese presidency.

Vance said the United States had remained in contact with regional partners throughout the talks, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

“This is not a deal that the United States is imposing on the region,” Vance said. “This is a deal that the region has desperately asked the United States to put in place.”

The high-level Iranian delegation has left Switzerland, but technical teams are expected to continue negotiations in the coming days. The next phase is expected to focus on nuclear inspections, enforcement mechanisms, sanctions relief, the handling of frozen assets, Lebanon and maritime security in Hormuz.