US and Iran clash over IAEA inspections as follow-up nuclear talks get underway

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US President Donald Trump speaks at the Mack Trucks factory in Macungie, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday (local time). [AP]
US President Donald Trump speaks at the Mack Trucks factory in Macungie, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday (local time). [AP]

US President Donald Trump said International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors will enter Iran's nuclear facilities as planned, treating the resumption of inspections as a foregone conclusion even as Tehran denies agreeing to any such arrangement.

Speaking to reporters at Reading Airport in Pennsylvania on Tuesday (local time), Trump said IAEA inspectors would visit Iran "at the appropriate time."

When asked about Iran's denial that it had agreed to any IAEA inspection plan, Trump said flatly, "They're wrong," adding, "If they're right, I'll cancel the meeting right now."

The remarks came as the United States and Iran push forward with follow-up working-level negotiations after holding their first high-level talks in Switzerland last weekend, following the signing of a ceasefire memorandum of understanding. The comments were widely interpreted as a warning that Iran's refusal to accept IAEA inspections could jeopardize the negotiations altogether.

Vice President JD Vance announced at a news conference Monday that Iran had agreed to reinvite IAEA inspectors into the country, with inspection activities set to begin this week.

Iran, however, has taken a contradictory position, saying it has not accepted any new nuclear obligations.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tuesday that reports claiming Iran had agreed to IAEA inspections of nuclear facilities previously struck in US airstrikes were untrue. "Whether inspections resume will be determined by the future course of the negotiations and their outcome," he said.

Trump also visited the Mack Trucks factory in Macungie, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, where he told workers that the end-of-war negotiations with Iran were going "pretty well."

Trump said 19 million barrels of crude oil had passed through the Strait of Hormuz as of Monday — the highest volume in the waterway's history. He also said Iran would "never" have nuclear weapons, adding that Tehran had agreed to that condition as part of the MOU.

Appearing to address criticism that the MOU had granted Iran too many concessions, Trump said, "Iran is not in a very good position," adding that its economy had been "decimated" and its defense industrial base had taken such severe damage that it would "take a long time to rebuild."

"We're leaving them with no navy, no air force, no air defense system, no missile capability, no nuclear program," he added.

"We're trying to work out a fair deal right now," Trump said.

Trump also used the speech to tout his tariff policy, saying it was protecting American jobs and driving a manufacturing revival, while highlighting a reduction in the US trade deficit.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com