President Trump and Vice President JD
Vance pointed to progress on Iran’s nuclear program, but officials in Tehran
said “no new commitments” had been made.
·
The
U.S. temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil sales for 60 days.
·
The
exemption allows purchases of Iranian oil in U.S. dollars.
·
This
could significantly boost Iran's economy after years of sanctions and
discounted oil sales.
·
U.S.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the decision resulted from productive
talks in Bürgenstock.
·
The
negotiations aim to establish a broader peace and nuclear agreement.
·
Vice
President JD Vance stated that Iran agreed to allow United Nations nuclear
inspectors access to its nuclear facilities.
·
He
described this as a major step toward preventing Iran from developing nuclear
weapons.
·
Iran's
Foreign Ministry said Tehran had made no new commitments regarding inspections.
·
Iranian
officials maintained that any cooperation would occur under existing
arrangements.
·
The
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) did not immediately confirm U.S.
claims.
·
It
remains unclear whether inspectors will soon return to Iranian nuclear sites.
·
Negotiators
established new communication channels to reduce tensions in:
o The Strait of Hormuz.
o Lebanon.
·
The
objective is to prevent renewed escalation between regional actors.
·
U.S.
officials described the talks as creating a strong foundation for a final
settlement.
·
Mediators
from Qatar and Pakistan reported encouraging progress.
·
The
arrangement would restore key elements of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.
·
President
Donald Trump withdrew from that deal in 2018 and had previously criticized it.
·
Iran
reduced inspection access after the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement.
·
Following
the 2025 U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Tehran further
restricted IAEA access.
·
The
status of Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile remains unclear.
·
Iran
claims much of the material was destroyed or buried during the 2025 conflict.
·
A
recent memorandum reportedly commits Iran to diluting remaining stockpiles
under IAEA supervision.
·
President
Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated that Iran's nuclear program is for peaceful
purposes.
·
He
stated that Iran would not surrender its right to enrich uranium.
·
The
new license authorizes production, delivery, and sale of Iranian oil.
·
Iran
may now receive higher prices and broader market access than under sanctions.
·
The
U.S. had indicated sanctions relief could follow Iran's commitment to keep the
Strait of Hormuz open.
·
The
waterway is one of the world's most important oil transit routes.
·
Iranian
officials reported progress toward releasing approximately $24 billion in
frozen assets.
·
U.S.
officials have not yet confirmed any asset-release agreement.
·
JD
Vance said any unfrozen Iranian assets would be directed toward purchases of
U.S. goods such as wheat and soybeans.
·
He
stated that the funds would not be allowed to finance terrorism.
·
U.S.
and Iranian negotiators will continue technical discussions.
·
The
current sanctions waiver and negotiations operate on a 60-day timeline.
·
Senior
Iranian officials traveled to Oman to discuss a new
mechanism for managing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
·
Iran
has proposed charging transit-related fees, while the U.S. wants the passage to
remain permanently toll-free.
·
The
temporary lifting of oil sanctions marks one of the most significant U.S.-Iran
policy shifts since Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement.
·
If
negotiations succeed, the deal could ease tensions in the Middle East, increase
Iranian oil exports, stabilize global energy markets, and revive international
nuclear monitoring of Iran's program.
The
Trump administration temporarily lifted oil sanctions against Iran on Monday (22.06.2026)
in a sharp reversal of U.S. policy that could provide Iran with an economic
boon after years of having to sell at a discount to buyers who risked running
afoul of the United States.
Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent said that the 60-day sanctions exemption, which
authorizes the purchase of Iranian oil in U.S. dollars, giving Iran greater
access to American currency, was the result of “ongoing productive” talks with
Iran in Bürgenstock, Switzerland.
Vice
President JD Vance, who has been leading the U.S. negotiating team in Bürgenstock, said that Tehran had agreed to allow United
Nations inspectors to visit Iran’s nuclear sites. He called that development “a
major milestone for the American people and the first step in permanently
ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran.”
President
Trump also made the claim, posting Monday on social media: “Everybody is fully
aware that Iran will agree to have Major Weapons Inspections in order to ensure
‘Nuclear Honesty’ long into the future.”
But
it was not clear if nuclear inspectors would travel to Iran. The U.N. nuclear
watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, did not immediately respond
to the comments by Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance. And the spokesman for Iran’s
foreign ministry, Esmail Baghaei, told Iran’s state
news agency, IRNA, that Tehran had made “no new commitments” on nuclear
inspections, and that any engagement with U.N. inspectors would take place
“under existing procedures.”
At
a news conference in Bürgenstock, Mr. Vance also
described new lines of communication established to de-escalate tensions in the
Strait of Hormuz and in Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed
militia, appear to have eased their attacks. Those two issues have complicated
the delicate cease-fire between the United States and Iran.
“This
is a work in progress,” Mr. Vance said, adding that the new process in Lebanon
would help “ensure it doesn’t spiral out of control in the future.”
Overall,
Mr. Vance said, the negotiations with Iran that began on Sunday had set a “very
good foundation” for a final peace deal. Qatari and Pakistani officials, who
mediated the talks, said that “encouraging progress has been made.”
U.N.
inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites and the lifting of American sanctions would
effectively restore key parts of a nuclear agreement that the Obama
administration struck with Iran in 2015. Mr. Trump withdrew the United States
from that agreement in 2018, and declared on social media as recently as April
that it was “one of the Worst Deals ever.”
Iran
began limiting nuclear inspections after Mr. Trump withdrew from the 2015
nuclear accord. Iran then blocked I.A.E.A. inspectors from its nuclear sites
after Israel and the United States bombed the sites during a 12-day war in June
2025.
Iranian
officials had accused the I.A.E.A. of providing political cover for those
attacks because they came after the agency passed a resolution saying Tehran
was not complying with its nuclear nonproliferation
obligations.
The
fate of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium has been unknown since the
12-day war. Iran says the material was destroyed or buried in the bombings. As
part of a memorandum of understanding signed by the United States and Iran last
week, Tehran had agreed to dilute that stockpile under the supervision of
I.A.E.A. inspectors.
Iran
has repeatedly declared that its nuclear program is only for civilian purposes
and its president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said on Sunday that Iran would “never
back down” from its right to enrich uranium. The head of the I.A.E.A., Rafael
M. Grossi, was in Bürgenstock over the weekend,
speaking to Switzerland’s foreign minister.
The
memorandum of understanding also committed the Trump administration to
temporarily lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil industry that it had imposed
in an effort to throttle Iran’s economy. On Monday, the Treasury Department
issued a 60-day license allowing the production, delivery and sale of Iranian
oil as part of that preliminary agreement. The change could provide Iran with a
windfall after years of being forced to sell discounted oil to buyers willing
to risk breaching U.S. economic restrictions.
The
Trump administration had signaled that it was
prepared to provide Iran with financial rewards if it reopened the Strait of
Hormuz, a critical oil shipping route that Tehran effectively closed during the
war, driving up global energy prices.
“Iran
has committed to free and open transit in the Strait of Hormuz and to permit
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors into their country,” Mr.
Bessent wrote on social media on Monday.
Iranian
officials said they had made progress in Switzerland in their push to access
$24 billion in frozen assets. Iran’s central bank governor, Abdolnaser
Hemmati, told Tasnim, an Iranian news agency, on Monday that “the necessary
memorandums were signed” during the first day of talks to begin the release of
assets.
U.S.
officials have not confirmed if they will release Iranian assets. But Mr. Vance
said that if assets are released, Iran would have to spend them on U.S. goods,
such as soy and wheat, and would be prohibited from using them to fund
terrorism.
“If
Iranian assets are ever unfrozen, they’re going to go to make American farmers
richer and to feed the Iranian people,” Mr. Vance said, crediting that idea to
Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and a key U.S. negotiator with
Iran. The United States and Qatar would oversee the process, Mr. Vance added.
As
he prepared to leave Switzerland, Mr. Vance said that some U.S. and Iranian
officials would remain in the country to continue technical discussions. Both
sides have committed to reaching a final agreement within 60 days.
“As
much as this place is very beautiful, I can’t stay here for the next 60 days,”
Mr. Vance said.
Iran’s
top negotiators, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian
Parliament, and Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister, arrived in Oman on Monday
for discussions on a new mechanism to oversee ship traffic in the Strait of
Hormuz, Iranian state media reported.
Iran
has said it wants to charge “fees” in exchange for unspecified “services” it
would provide in the waterway. Mr. Trump has said he wants the strait to be
“permanently toll-free.”