Trump, Iran at odds over nuclear inspections and frozen assets in deal to end war

Jarrett Renshaw and Tala Ramadan

LOWER MACUNGIE TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania/DUBAI, June 23 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iran had agreed to conduct nuclear inspections “in perpetuity” while Tehran said it had made no such concessions in negotiations, raising questions about the viability of the fragile peace deal.

The two countries, which held the first round of talks in Switzerland that ended on Monday, also offered contradictory statements about financial incentives for Iran, control of the Strait of Hormuz and Israel’s parallel war in Lebanon; These are all important aspects of the framework agreement they signed last week aimed at ending the war.

However, Trump said negotiations with Iran were going smoothly. “We get along pretty well,” he said at a rally in Pennsylvania.

In a sign of easing tensions, the United States relaxed travel restrictions on Iran’s World Cup soccer team, allowing the team to travel from Tijuana, Mexico, to Seattle two days instead of one before its next match.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 35 percent of Americans think the United States is in a weaker position against Iran than before the war, while 23 percent believe it is in a stronger position.

The Republican-controlled Senate, meanwhile, defied Trump and voted to stop the war in a largely symbolic move that highlighted the fissures in his party.

SAVING SAILORS

Although the prospects for a lasting peace are far from certain, the initial agreement allowed traffic to flow again through the strait, which usually accounts for a fifth of global energy supplies.

Oil prices on Tuesday were at their lowest since the war began on February 28, and the United Nations shipping agency said it was working to evacuate 11,000 sailors stranded by Iran’s closure of the strategic waterway.

The agreement requires Iran to allow traffic to flow freely for 60 days, but Iran has said it may impose tolls or other charges on shipping after that point.

Iran and Oman, which controls the other side of the strait, issued a joint statement on Tuesday, emphasizing their “sovereign rights” over the waterway and saying they would work together to manage traffic and related costs.

Visiting Gulf allies upset with the peace deal, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran would not be allowed to collect tolls across the strait as part of any final deal.

The agreement calls for an immediate end to the war, including in Lebanon, the lifting of US sanctions on Tehran and the lifting of the freeze on Iranian assets held abroad. It also outlines a $300 billion investment fund for the reconstruction of the Islamic Republic.

NUCLEAR INSPECTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ON FROZEN ASSETS

The framework itself does not impose any restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, and the issue will be resolved in 60 days of negotiations.

Trump claimed that Iran had agreed to allow international inspectors access to its damaged nuclear sites indefinitely.

‌Iran has fully agreed to the highest level of Nuclear inspections for the long future (Eternity!!!),” Trump said on social media.

Iran denied discussing its nuclear program in the talks and said it had not agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back to the country.

The two sides also failed to agree on the details of the provision that would allow Iran access to funds frozen in offshore accounts.

While Trump said the unfrozen assets would be used to buy food and medical supplies from the United States, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said Iran would decide how to spend this money.

Washington agreed to waive sanctions against Iran for 60 days, allowing Tehran to sell and receive payment for oil and related products.

Israel’s parallel war against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon also remains a problem. While Bahraini stated that the agreement required Israel to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, Israel said it would maintain a security zone in southern Lebanon and continue to take action to “neutralize” threats to Israeli soldiers and citizens.

State media in Lebanon reported that two people died as a result of Israeli fire on Tuesday, and Hezbollah said the incident violated the ceasefire.

Israel and Lebanon began new talks in Washington on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Andy Sullivan, Lincoln Feast and Sharon Singleton; Editing by Gareth Jones and Cynthia Osterman)