U.S. and Iran disagree over whether Tehran has agreed to nuclear inspections

By — Munir Ahmed, Associated Press Munir Ahmed, Associated Press By — David Rising, Associated Press David Rising, Associated Press By — Jon Gambrell, Associated Press Jon Gambrell, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-and-iran-disagree-over-whether-tehran-has-agreed-to-nuclear-inspections Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter U.S. and Iran disagree over whether Tehran has agreed to nuclear inspections World Jun 23, 2026 4:44 PM EDT ISLAMABAD (AP) — The U.S. and Iran were in dispute Tuesday over whether Tehran had agreed to allow U.N. inspections of its nuclear sites. As officials negotiated over how to permanently end the war in Iran, a separate plan emerged to break the shipping bottleneck through the Strait of Hormuz. The disagreement over nuclear inspections came as Iran's president met with Pakistani mediators and technical teams from the U.S. and Iran continued talks in Switzerland. WATCH: Trump says nuclear inspectors will be able to enter Iran at 'appropriate time' A United Nations agency said Tuesday that a plan was underway to move stranded ships and their thousands of crew members through the strait — a vital passage for global energy supplies that Iran had blocked after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28. Earlier in the day, a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, told reporters in Tehran that U.N. inspectors were not scheduled to examine nuclear sites bombed by the U.S. last year, rejecting comments made a day before by U.S. Vice President JD Vance. President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that if Iran had not agreed to inspections, he would cut off talks with Tehran immediately. But he added there was no rush for those inspections to begin. The International Atomic Energy Agency has not responded to requests for comment over its possible role. It has been in and out of Iran since Israel's 12-day war in 2025, but has not been granted access to bombed enrichment sites targeted by the U.S. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, though it has highly enriched uranium that could be used to build atomic bombs, should it choose to do so, the IAEA has said. The U.S. and Iran agreed to a deal last week that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium, and waives U.S.-backed sanctions on the country while giving each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements. Plan to evacuate stranded seafarers through Strait of Hormuz The plan to evacuate 11,000 crew members stranded on ships is being done in cooperation with Iran, Oman, all other coastal states in the region, the United States and the maritime industry, according to the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez. "We have secured the necessary safety guarantees and have thoroughly verified the conditions for safe navigation to support these operations," he said in a statem