US Vice President JD Vance on Monday reiterated his claim that Iran has agreed to allow nuclear inspectors back into the country, while Tehran denies making any new commitments on its nuclear program.
"We have the Iranians allowing weapons inspectors, nuclear inspectors into their country for the first time in a long time. We're obviously going to bolster that inspection regime to make sure they can never have a nuclear weapon," Vance told reporters before departing Switzerland after talks with Iranian officials.
Vance said the new round of negotiations in Burgenstock laid "a foundation for what could be a truly transformed Middle East," while stressing that a final agreement has not yet been reached.
A report by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency on Monday denied US Vice President JD Vance's claim that Tehran has agreed to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency back into the country.
Citing a source, the Fars news agency described Vance's remarks on the return of IAEA inspectors to Iran as "false."
Technical-level discussions between US and Iranian teams will continue in the coming days, with both sides remaining engaged in Switzerland.
"We continue to make progress on these technical negotiations. We left a lot of our team, the Iranians left a lot of their team at the resort there to keep on working at," Vance said.
"I feel great about the progress that we made over the last couple of days," he said.
He said the discussions had helped establish mechanisms to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, which he said contributed to lower oil prices.
"We think about 15 million barrels of oil come out. That's one of the reasons why oil is so low right now," he said. "Gas prices are going to keep coming down."
Vance also said the talks produced a framework for managing regional ceasefires and coordinating with allies across the Middle East.
On nuclear verification, Vance said Iran's acceptance of inspectors marked a key development, but added that US policy would remain focused on verification.
"You can't trust anybody's words, you have to trust what they actually do," he said. "Letting in the inspectors is a big deal, but we're going to see what they actually let the inspectors do once they're in the country."
Asked about his earlier remarks on unfreezing Iranian assets for purchases of US soy, Vance said: "We actually asked the Qataris to help us set up the mechanism, so that we can ensure that the money goes where we want it to go, and they agreed to do that."
The US and Iran remotely signed a memorandum of understanding last week, launching a 60-day negotiating window to resolve disputes including the fate of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile, its nuclear program, and other unresolved issues.
The 14-point document calls for an immediate and permanent end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, the removal of the naval blockade on Iran, and safe passage for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
It also includes a reconstruction and economic development plan for Iran valued at a minimum of $300 billion, oil export waivers, the release of Iran's frozen assets, and a reaffirmation by Tehran that it will not develop nuclear weapons.
