Vice President JD Vance said Monday that Iran has agreed to allow nuclear inspectors back into the country following talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland, describing the discussions as creating a 'good foundation' for a final deal to resolve the conflict between the two nations.
Vice President JD Vance stated the U.S. is "very close" to a peace deal with Iran that could be reached within a week to months, while publicly acknowledging divergent U.S. and Israeli interests amid tensions between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu. The comments came as U.S. forces launched retaliatory strikes against Iran.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported difficulties accessing Iranian nuclear facilities and found little change in Iran's nuclear program assessment despite three months of U.S.-Israeli military operations in the region.
President Trump indicated willingness to allow Iran to enrich uranium after a 20-year period as part of nuclear negotiations, marking a significant shift from previous US positions that sought permanent restrictions on Iran's nuclear program.
U.S. intelligence assessments indicate Iran still needs up to a year to build a nuclear weapon, unchanged since last summer's U.S.-Israeli attack, while escalating tit-for-tat incidents in the Strait of Hormuz threaten a fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
International Atomic Energy Agency director Rafael Grossi said most of Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile remains likely stored at the Isfahan nuclear complex, though IAEA inspectors have been blocked from verifying the site since the 2025 war.
Iran's nuclear program has survived five weeks of US and Israeli bombing with most of the infrastructure needed to make a nuclear bomb intact according to officials and experts, posing a challenge for US negotiators. Vice President JD Vance identified Iran's nuclear ambitions as the 'critical flashpoint' behind the collapse of 21-hour emergency talks in Islamabad.
An analysis of June 2025 satellite imagery published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and Le Monde indicates Iran likely moved up to 540 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to an underground complex at Isfahan in the days before US and Israeli military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
