Iran Denies It Agreed to Nuke Inspections. Trump Says It Did.

Iran has denied that it has agreed to permit in-country inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, a key plank of the memorandum of understanding the U.S. and Iran inked last week.

The statement contradicts what Vice President JD Vance said before he left the first round of negotiations at Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. Vance had said the negotiators had agreed to four major points that would provide a roadmap for the next 60 days of negotiations.

President Trump, in turn, contradicted Iran on Truth Social, then falsely said that a “world record” 19 million barrels passed through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday.

Vance’s Four Points

Explaining the four main points that the first days of negotiations established, Vance said the two sides created a “coordination mechanism so that we could demine the Strait of Hormuz, so that when there are the conflicts that inevitably come up, we can make sure we work through them, rather than that leading to escalation, and that is exactly what we did yesterday.”

Negotiators also created a “deconfliction” mechanism to ensure the ceasefire succeeds by continuing to talk. 

A process was also established for more technical negotiations.

The sticking point, it appears, is the inspections issue. Iran will permit inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency back into their country, “a major milestone for the American people” and “the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran,” Vance said:

And that’s exactly what we want to do. That’s exactly what we asked to happen. We made a lot of great progress on other nuclear talks.”

Not so, say the Iranians.

“On Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said that there was no plan for the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect Iran’s nuclear facilities damaged by the war and that officials had not met with the director general of the nuclear watchdog,” The Washington Post reported:

“There is simply no established procedure for this matter,” Baqaei said in comments reported by state media, adding that Iran would “adhere to the standard procedures, which are already well-defined and transparent.”

Iran was already subject to regular inspections under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and agreed to more intensive monitoring under the Obama nuclear deal that Trump frequently condemned. After Trump terminated that agreement in 2018, Iran blocked IAEA access to some sites, while some inspections continued.

Since last June, Iran has prohibited the inspectors from visiting sites bombed by the U.S. and Israel.

Ali Bahreini, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that discussion of Iranian nuclear activities is set for the next stage of talks.

Trump Disputes Iranians

Trump took to Truth Social to let the world know the truth, at least as he sees it.

“Despite their protestations and false statements to the contrary, coupled with the drumbeat of the Fake News, which is doing everything possible to make the U.S. Victory as small and insignificant as possible, Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!),” Trump wrote:

This will [e]nsure “Nuclear Honesty.” If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations! Based on this and other major concessions being made by Iran, I have agreed to allow the Hormuz Strait to remain OPEN, with no further Naval Blockade. However, all ships are remaining in place should it be necessary to reinstitute the Blockade, which seems, at this point, highly unlikely. The Money and/or Sanctions that the U.S. Treasury is releasing goes into escrow, controlled by the U.S.A., and will be used for the purchase of food and medical supplies, exclusively from the United States, including Corn, Wheat, and Soybeans from our great American Farmers. These are things that are desperately needed by Iran. This is a humanitarian crisis, and I feel it is necessary to help, NOW, before it is too late. Talks are going well! Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Helping Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced yesterday that his department gave Iran a 60-day license to produce, sell, and deliver Iranian oil.

Record Oil Shipment

Strangely, Trump followed his Truth Social post that contradicted the Iranians with another that is flat wrong.

“19 Millions Barrels of Oil flowed out of the Hormuz Strait yesterday, an all time RECORD,” he wrote:

Oil prices are tumbling down, and the World is a much safer place!!!

Oil prices and planetary safety aside, 19 million barrels is not an “all time RECORD.”

Last year, 20 million barrels of oil went through the strait every day, the International Energy Agency reported. In 2018, 21 million barrels per day went through the seaway.

The oil shipped through the strait each day is about 25 percent of the world’s total, with 80 percent destined for Asia.

Today’s price for Brent crude oil, the benchmark for the oil market, is about $77 per barrel. U.S. crude oil was selling for about $73 per barrel.

Prewar, Brent crude was $68. U.S. oil cost $62.