Iran Nuclear Inspections Dispute Clouds 60-Day Race to Finalize War-Ending Deal

Dispute Over Nuclear Inspections

The U.S. and Iran remained at odds Tuesday over whether Tehran agreed to allow United Nations inspectors to view bombed Iranian nuclear sites, complicating efforts to finalize a war-ending agreement as both sides pressed forward with a 60-day negotiating window. Vice President JD Vance said Monday that Iran had committed to granting the International Atomic Energy Agency access to nuclear facilities struck by U.S. military strikes last year. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei directly contradicted that account Tuesday, telling reporters in Tehran that no IAEA visit to the bombed sites was scheduled.

The competing narratives surfaced as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Islamabad for his first visit since the U.S. and Israel launched their joint military campaign against Iran on February 28. He met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accompanying the delegation. Pakistan has served as a key intermediary throughout the negotiations. Trump separately posted on social media that Iran had agreed to nuclear inspections extending far into the future, warning that without that concession “there would be no further negotiations.” The IAEA has not confirmed any visit arrangement and has had limited access to Iran since Israel’s 12-day war in 2025.

Race to Reopen Hormuz Strait

Even as the inspections dispute grabbed headlines, technical teams worked on the practical aftermath of the broader U.S.-Iran understanding. The International Maritime Organization announced Tuesday that a plan is underway to evacuate approximately 11,000 stranded seafarers through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a fifth of all globally traded oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the war. IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said his agency had secured the necessary safety guarantees and verified conditions for safe navigation in cooperation with Iran, Oman, all coastal states in the region, the United States and the maritime industry.

Ship traffic is gradually recovering. Data and analytics firm Kpler confirmed 39 vessels crossed through the strait Monday, following roughly 92 crossings between Friday and Sunday. Before the war, approximately 100 ships made the daily journey. The bottleneck had stranded hundreds of vessels and disrupted global energy markets for months. Iran effectively shut the strait during the height of the conflict, and its closure became a flashpoint in global oil markets. The U.S. has said negotiators discussed “mechanisms” to keep Hormuz open going forward, though questions remain about enforcement and who ultimately controls access to the waterway.

Lebanon Ceasefire Under Strain

The diplomatic momentum faced an immediate test Tuesday when Israeli soldiers opened fire in southern Lebanon, killing two people. The deaths came after two days of relative calm following a ceasefire brokered Saturday between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia whose fighting with Israel Iran has demanded be resolved as part of any comprehensive U.S.-Iran deal. The Israeli military said troops fired at four Hezbollah members who were operating a bulldozer and motorcycle inside a security zone and ignored warning shots. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported the two men were killed next to a bulldozer clearing a road. No Israeli airstrikes or artillery shelling have been reported since Sunday, and Hezbollah has not claimed any attacks since the ceasefire took effect, representing the longest halt in fighting since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on March 2.

Ahead of the Islamabad meetings, Pezeshkian cautioned that the success of the diplomatic track depended on all parties meeting their obligations. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the two countries also agreed to establish a contact mechanism to address both the shipping situation in the Hormuz strait and the Lebanon fighting. “Any breakdown in the Lebanon ceasefire threatens to unravel the broader architecture of the talks,” one Western diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are ongoing. Any breakdown in the Lebanon ceasefire threatens to unravel the broader architecture of the talks, since Iran has conditioned any final agreement on a comprehensive truce with Hezbollah.

Sixty-Day Clock Is Ticking

The talks in Switzerland produced several technical working groups covering sanctions relief, nuclear issues, reconstruction funding and monitoring mechanisms, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the countries also formed a contact mechanism over both ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and the situation in Lebanon. The 60-day timeline signed in Bu00fc rgenstock commits both sides to reach a permanent agreement to end the war that began with U.S. and Israeli missile strikes on February 28. That campaign killed thousands of people, displaced millions and sent shockwaves through global energy markets.

The inspection dispute exposes the fundamental challenge: both sides have incentives to declare victory while holding back the concessions the other demands. The Trump administration faces pressure from Iran hawks in Congress who oppose releasing frozen Iranian assets or suspending sanctions without ironclad verification of Tehran’s nuclear program. Iran, for its part, has resisted any agreement that appears to legitimize the bombing of its nuclear infrastructure. What happens in Islamabad this week, and whether the Lebanon ceasefire holds, will determine whether the 60-day window produces a genuine peace or another cycle of competing narratives and broken promises.