Iran refuses access for UN inspectors to bombed nuclear facilities

Iran said Tuesday that the UN's nuclear watchdog will not be able to inspect key nuclear sites bombed by the US and Israel last year, as the first round of talks to end the Middle East war wrapped up in Switzerland.

Tehran and Washington have signed a memorandum of understanding to end a war that sowed chaos across the Middle East and rattled the global economy, embarking on a 60-day period to settle broader issues including Iran's nuclear programme and sanctions relief.

Diplomacy on that final deal ramped up on Tuesday, with Iran's leader heading to mediator Pakistan, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio setting off on a tour of Gulf allies, and Lebanon and Israel due for direct talks in Washington.

But Iran denied the claim of US Vice President JD Vance that Tehran had agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back, after Iran blocked them from nuclear sites struck by its arch foes in a 12-day war last year.

"We have not had a meeting with the director general of the IAEA, nor do we have any plans for the agency to inspect Iran's nuclear facilities damaged by the US and Zionist military aggression," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a press briefing.

But US President Donald Trump later said Iran had signed off on comprehensive nuclear inspections.

"Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future," he posted on social media.

When the US joined Israel's war with Iran in mid-2025, it bombed nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, including with powerful bunker-busting bombs.

The extent of the damage remains unknown despite Trump claiming they were "obliterated".

Iran's UN ambassador Ali Bahreini also told reporters Tuesday "there hasn't been such a decision" to accept IAEA inspectors. When the US joined Israel's war with Iran in mid-2025, it bombed nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan with powerful bunker-busting bombs dropped from B-2 stealth bombers.

It came as Tehran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the strategic Strait of Hormuz "will never return" to the days of free passage before the war, despite both sides agreeing to set up communication lines to keep it open.

Thirty-five commodity carriers transited the waterway on Monday, a record since the war began, maritime tracking firm Kpler said.

Oman and Iran said in a joint statement Tuesday that they would study the administration of the trade route and the costs to be charged for services provided, insisting on sovereignty over the waterway.

Diplomatic whirlwind

After the Switzerland talks, Rubio was to visit the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain – all attacked by Iran during the war – to discuss the deal with Tehran and the Hormuz strait.

Comments by Rubio, an ardent Iran hawk, will be closely watched as he has largely remained out of the spotlight, with Vance taking a lead role in defending the deal.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, was visiting key mediator Pakistan on Tuesday with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Araghchi and Ghalibaf also held talks in Oman with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, who expressed hope for "a peaceful, definitive settlement", Omani state media said.

The round of negotiations launched this weekend at Switzerland's luxury Burgenstock resort raised hopes for a lasting settlement and pushed down oil prices. US Vice President JD Vance struck an upbeat tone after the direct talks.

Mediators Pakistan and Qatar said both sides had agreed on a "roadmap" to reach a final agreement within the 60-day timeframe.

They agreed that four negotiating groups be set up on nuclear issues, sanctions and other matters, Iranian state media said.

The US Treasury said it had temporarily lifted sanctions on Iran to allow it to produce, sell and deliver crude and related products until mid-August.

As part of their deal, Washington also agreed to release $12 billion in frozen funds to Iran, Iranian state media reported.

But Vance said Iranian assets had not been unfrozen and would not fund terrorism if they were.

Bahreini said Iran would be the "only country" to decide what to do with its assets.

Watch more US, Iran agree on Lebanon ceasefire and lifting sanctions on Iranian oil, but much remains

Lebanon war

On the Lebanon front, a fifth round of negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli officials was scheduled to begin in Washington on Tuesday in a bid to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict there. This picture taken from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel shows Israeli tanks positioned along the border with southern Lebanon on June 22, 2026.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, has repeatedly threatened to derail peace efforts.

The goal of the Washington talks will be "to end the cycle of violence for good" and "advance a comprehensive peace and security agreement between the two countries", which have no diplomatic relations, a US State Department official told AFP.

Despite a reduction in hostilities in Lebanon following a new ceasefire, Israeli soldiers shot and killed two people in the south on Tuesday "while they were standing near an excavator" clearing a road, state media reported.

Hezbollah decried what it called a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire after the incident.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)