Iran agrees to return nuclear inspectors, Vance says

Tehran has agreed to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to return to Iran. US Vice President J. D. Vance said this at a press conference today, after the first round of high-level US-Iran talks ended overnight in Bürgenstock, Switzerland. Talks on the inspectors’ activities will begin this week, Vance added, saying this would be the first step toward permanently ending Iran’s nuclear weapons development programme. Tehran has repeatedly denied seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon.

The vice president described the results of the talks as a good basis for “a successful final agreement”. The first round was held under a memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran last week. A final agreement is like a house, he said. It has not yet been built, but negotiators have successfully laid a solid foundation for it, Vance added.

On the war in Lebanon between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement, whose end Tehran has made a condition for an agreement with the US, Vance said some progress was already visible. The past 24 hours had been the calmest in some time, he said. The United States supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah attacks and also supports Lebanon’s sovereignty, Vance said in response to a question from reporters about a possible Israeli army withdrawal from southern Lebanon, where the army has established a buffer zone.

Vance indicated that the US could agree to release Iranian assets frozen abroad, as Tehran has requested. The funds should be used exclusively for the benefit of the Iranian people, he said, and not to support armed groups backed by Iran in the region. According to the vice president, US negotiator Jared Kushner and Qatari officials proposed that Iran use the released funds to buy US wheat, corn and soybeans. Vance said this would help feed the people of Iran while also supporting American farmers.

The Strait of Hormuz, an important shipping route for oil and gas exports from Persian Gulf countries, is open, the vice president said. Reopening the strategic strait was one of Washington’s main demands, as Iran’s blockade had driven a sharp rise in the prices of these commodities on world markets.

The talks in Bürgenstock are being mediated by Pakistan and Qatar. Vance led the US delegation, while the Iranian delegation was headed by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.