US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday Iran had agreed to nuclear inspections into “infinity”, despite Tehran’s denials, as the UN began efforts to evacuate hundreds of ships from the Gulf in a tentative return to calm after a fragile peace deal.
The UN shipping agency said an evacuation plan to enable 11,000 seafarers stuck aboard vessels in the Gulf to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran blocked during the war, was under way after the ceasefire deal between Washington and Tehran.
“We have now started contacting the ships to start the evacuation,” a spokesperson for the UN’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO) said, without providing a time frame, adding that the agency had secured “the necessary safety guarantees” and verified conditions for safe navigation.
IMO secretary general Arsenio Dominguez said the “large-scale operation” would unfold in close co-operation with Iran, Oman, other coastal states, the US and the maritime industry.
RM Block
In another sign of de-escalation, Washington agreed to waive sanctions on Iran for 60 days from Monday after the first round of talks under the nascent peace deal agreed last week on ending more than three months of war. Trump also said unfrozen Iranian assets would be used to buy humanitarian supplies from the US.
US vice-president JD Vance said the talks with Iranian officials in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock laid a good foundation for a final accord and that Tehran had agreed to allow nuclear inspectors back into the country.
But Iran denied it had begun discussions on its nuclear programme at the talks, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, and said it had not agreed to invite back inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Tuesday Iranian officials had not held a meeting with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in Switzerland and had no plans for the UN nuclear watchdog to inspect Iran’s damaged nuclear facilities.
Trump hit back at what he said were Iran’s “protestations and false statements”.
“Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!),” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He also said any Iranian assets unfrozen under the deal would be placed in an escrow account and used to buy food and medical supplies from the US.
Iran’s ambassador to the US in Geneva had earlier on Tuesday denied there had been any such agreement. “Iran is the only country to decide what to do with its assets,” Ali Bahreini told reporters.
On Monday, the sides agreed on a mechanism to end fighting between US ally Israel and Iran-backed Hizbullah in Lebanon, and opened a communications line to help ensure safe passage for commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil supplies blockaded by Iran during the war.
In the first of several steps to provide economic relief to Iran, the US treasury announced a waiver until August 21st on sanctions, allowing Tehran to sell oil and related products.
Bahreini said “good progress” had been made and that two working groups would be established to focus on the removal of sanctions and Iran’s nuclear activities.
The ambassador said Lebanon was an “unquestionable” part of the interim accord between the US and Iran, and that it included the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon.
A ceasefire has largely held in southern Lebanon since Sunday, but Lebanon’s Civil Defence and state media said Israeli gunfire had killed two people there on Tuesday. Hizbullah said the incident violated the ceasefire.
Israel has said it will maintain a security zone in southern Lebanon and continue to act to “neutralise” threats against Israeli soldiers and citizens. Israeli strikes against Hizbullah in Lebanon have killed thousands of people and displaced millions.
Israel and Lebanon began a new round of talks in Washington on Tuesday.
Tanker traffic through Hormuz started to pick up on Monday, although Iran and Oman suggested in a joint statement that there may be costs involved in using the strait.
The war with Iran, which started with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, has become a political liability at home for Trump. Opinion polls have shown public frustration over a rise in fuel prices and Trump faces pressures from Republicans who want Iran’s nuclear programme shut down.
Iran has limited IAEA inspections since the US and Israel launched their first air strikes last year, and suspended them when war broke out. Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful. – Reuters
