Iran agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into country: Vance

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict at the Lake Lucerne Summit, at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, Monday. AFP-Yonhap

BURGENSTOCK, Switzerland — Tehran has agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Monday, after a first round of U.S.-Iran talks towards ending the Middle East war.

"The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country," Vance told reporters at Switzerland's Burgenstock resort, where his talks with Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf opened on Sunday.

"That is a major milestone for the American people and the first step in permanently denuclearising or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran," he said.

The talks in Switzerland were the first stage of a two-month negotiating period set out under a preliminary deal agreed last week.

Mediators Pakistan and Qatar said the negotiators agreed on a "roadmap towards reaching a final deal within 60 days", with technical talks to continue for the rest of the week at Burgenstock, an isolated hotel complex in central Switzerland.

The final deal will seek to draw a line under the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, which prompted Iran to counter-attack with missile and drone salvos across the region — and effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for the world economy.

The negotiators aim to tackle some of the most intractable issues that have dogged U.S.-Iranian relations for decades, including Tehran's nuclear programme and enriched uranium.

Under the terms of last week's preliminary deal, released by U.S. officials, Iran will dilute its enriched uranium stocks, possibly by "down-blending on site under the supervision of the IAEA", the UN's nuclear watchdog.

The IAEA estimates that Iran had 440 kilogrammes (970 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60 percent — close to the level needed for a bomb.

Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA after Israel and the United States launched a previous wave of attacks in June 2025 and inspectors have not seen the material since.

Vance said he expected conversations with the inspectors about their return to Iran to begin imminently.

"I expect that will happen at the minimum this week, but we think even some of those conversations with the inspectors... and with the IAEA could happen as soon as today," he said.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi posted on X on Sunday that he was at the Burgenstock and met Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.