US Vice-President J.D. Vance has stated that Iran has agreed to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s supervisory body, to return to the country.
“This is the first step towards the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear weapons programme,” he said at a press conference in Switzerland.
The IAEA has not yet responded to this statement.
Paragraph 8 of the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran refers to IAEA oversight of the disposal of stockpiled enriched material.
IAEA inspectors were operating in Iran under the nuclear agreement signed by the administration of former President Barack Obama, which President Trump withdrew from. However, Iran barred inspectors from entering the country last year after the United States and Israel attacked its nuclear facilities.
On 10 June, the IAEA Board of Governors, comprising representatives from 35 countries, adopted a US-backed resolution requiring Iran to disclose its stockpile of enriched uranium and to allow inspectors into the country.
It is estimated that Iran possesses around 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to approximately 60 per cent, which is sufficient to produce a nuclear weapon.