Vice President Vance Says Iran Has Agreed to Invite IAEA Inspectors Back

US Vice President JD Vance. (Twitter/The White House)

JAKARTA - US Vice President JD Vance on Sunday said Iran had agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back to the country, after the first round of talks to end the war in the Middle East.

Tehran and Washington held peace talks with the mediation of Pakistan and Qatar at the Lake Lucerne Summit at the Burgenstock Resort, Switzerland, Sunday (21/6).

"Iran has agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back to their country," Vice President Vance told reporters at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland, where his talks with Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, began on Sunday, Al Arabiya and AFP reported (22/6).

"It is an important milestone for the American people and the first step in permanent denuclearization or permanently ending the nuclear weapons program in Iran," he said.

The Lake Lucerne Summit was held following the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, which consists of 14 points and was signed by President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian last week.

The US delegation was led by Vice President JD Vance. From the Iranian side there was the Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Galibaf. Meanwhile, Pakistan is led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatar is led by Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

The talks in Switzerland are the first stage of a two-month negotiation period set out under an initial deal agreed last week.

Pakistani and Qatari mediators said negotiators agreed on a "roadmap to a final agreement within 60 days," with technical talks continuing through the weekend at Burgenstock, a secluded hotel complex in central Switzerland.

The final agreement will seek to end the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, which prompted Iran to carry out a retaliatory attack with a salvo of missiles and drones across the region, effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway vital to the world economy.

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

Under the terms of last week's preliminary agreement, released by US officials, Iran would reduce its stockpiles of enriched uranium, possibly by "on-site blending under IAEA supervision," the UN nuclear watchdog.

The IAEA estimates Iran has 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60 percent, close to the level needed for a bomb.

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

Vice President Vance said he expected conversations with the inspectors about their return to Iran to begin soon.

"I estimate it will happen at the latest this week, but we think even some conversations with the inspectors and with the IAEA can happen as soon as today," he said.

Separately, IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi wrote on Sunday on social media X that he was in Burgenstock and met with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.