U.S. And Iran In Dispute Over Whether Tehran Has Agreed To Nuclear Inspections

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United States and Iran sparred Tuesday over whether Tehran allows the United Nations to inspect its nuclear facilities. While officials negotiate how to end it permanently war in IranA plan has emerged to overcome the shipping bottleneck in the Strait of Hormuz.

The dispute over nuclear inspections emerged as the Iranian president met with Pakistani mediators. Technical teams from the USA and Iran Negotiations continued in Switzerland.

A plan to evacuate 11,000 stranded sailors through the strait, which is vital for global energy supplies and which Iran blocked after the United States and Israel launched a war on February 28, is under way, a United Nations agency said Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran that UN inspectors had no plans to examine nuclear sites bombed by the US last year, denying comments made a day earlier by US Vice President J.D. Vance. In response, President Donald Trump posted on social media that Iran had agreed to long-term nuclear inspections and said there would be “no further negotiations” without that concession.

The International Atomic Energy Agency did not respond to requests for comment on its possible role. Israel has been in and out of Iran since its 12-day war in 2025, but has not been given access to bomb enrichment sites targeted by the US.

The IAEA stated that Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but that Iran has highly enriched uranium that could be used to make an atomic bomb if it wanted.

The plan to evacuate thousands of seafarers is being made in cooperation with Iran, Oman, all other coastal states in the region, the United States and the shipping industry, according to Arsenio Dominguez, secretary general of the International Maritime Organization.

“We have secured the necessary safety guarantees and thoroughly verified safe navigation conditions to support these operations,” he said in a statement.

But the uneasy ceasefire was tested by Iran, which closed the strait again due to clashes between Israel and the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon. Violence broke out again in Lebanon on Tuesday.

The US said negotiators were discussing “mechanisms” that would keep the strait open, which Iran had effectively closed during the war. Boat traffic is increasing but questions remain about who controls the gate.

Data and analytics company Kpler confirmed that 39 ships passed through the strait on Monday, after approximately 92 passages between Friday and Sunday. Before the war, approximately 100 ships were traveling per day.

Two US aircraft carriers continue to operate in the Middle East, the US military’s Central Command said.

Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari discussed a number of issues, including regional peace and economic cooperation, on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Islamabad presidency.

This was the first visit by the Iranian president since the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran. Pezeshkian and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will hold a joint press conference after the meetings.

In initial talks that marked the beginning of a 60-day window to reach a permanent agreement to end the war, Iran and the United States agreed to create a “deconfliction cell” to handle the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Iran said the talks in Switzerland led to the creation of negotiating groups focusing on sanctions relief, nuclear issues, reconstruction and monitoring, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. In the report, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Garibabadi, who led the talks here, was quoted as saying that the countries also created a way to discuss the ships passing through Hormuz and the conflict in Lebanon.

On Tuesday, Israeli soldiers opened fire in southern Lebanon, killing two people. This comes after two days of calm following the establishment of a ceasefire on Saturday. The resumption of intense fighting could threaten broader diplomatic talks as Iran demands a full ceasefire in Lebanon be part of a comprehensive agreement.

Israel occupies part of Lebanon and insists it must be able to attack militants launching attacks in northern Israel.

The Israeli army said soldiers opened fire on four Hezbollah members who were driving bulldozers and motorcycles, entered the security zone and did not stop despite warning shots. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that two men were killed near the bulldozer clearing the road.

No Israeli airstrikes or shelling have been reported since Sunday, and Hezbollah has not claimed any attacks in the longest conflict since the Israel-Hezbollah war broke out in March.

Vance, who led the negotiations after the talks in Switzerland, said that if Iran’s financial assets were frozen, they would be used to buy American-grown corn, wheat and soy.

Tehran’s decisions on what to import will be based on “prices and quality,” an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

“It is interesting that the philosophy and goal of the war, which was the destruction of Iranian civilization and the collapse of Iran, turned into enriching American farmers,” Baghaei said.

Iranian Ambassador to Geneva Ali Bahraini questioned Vance’s claim that the United States and Qatar would approve Iran’s use of unfrozen funds. “Iran is the only country that decides what to do with these assets,” he told reporters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that his army still had “complete freedom of action” in Lebanon to thwart any threats.

Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the US-Iran agreement. Netanyahu has promised to keep his forces in southern Lebanon until threats to Israel are eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to stop the attacks unless Israel commits to withdraw.

Asked about Netanyahu’s comments, Trump said, “We’ll take a look at it,” adding that the situation “will be resolved.”

The main highway leading south from Beirut was blocked on Tuesday as people displaced from southern Lebanon returned to their homes. Among them was Hawraa Nour El-Din from Khirbet Selm village.

“We do not want the negotiations to be conducted by the government,” he said. “We want Iran to negotiate on our behalf, and whether everyone likes it or not, we come back victorious.”

In Washington, the State Department said a new round of Israel-Lebanon talks began on Tuesday, with both political and security issues on the agenda.

Ascension reported from Bangkok, while Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Josh Boak and Matthew Lee in Washington and Mae Anderson in New York contributed to this report.