politics
U.S. and Iranian Officials Discuss Nuclear Inspections in Switzerland
Diplomats from the United States and Iran met in Switzerland on June 22, 2026, but immediately disagreed on whether Tehran had accepted the return of IAEA inspectors. Experts outlined three major obstacles to any renewed monitoring regime, including Iran's production of undeclared centrifuges, a €250 million IAEA funding gap, and the role of non-expert U.S. negotiators.
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U.S. and Iranian diplomats met in Switzerland on June 22, 2026, to discuss nuclear inspections. Vice President JD Vance stated that Iran had agreed to allow the return of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.
Iranian officials stated they had not agreed to any such return. The meeting occurred after the United States conducted strikes on the Natanz and Fordow enrichment sites in June 2025. Iran began restricting inspectors' access to data and facilities after the United States withdrew from the JCPOA in 2021.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told the agency's board earlier in June that it is missing €250 million in overdue assessed contributions. He warned that if dues are not paid by mid-August 2026, the agency will not be able to make payroll or fund key operations. Grossi has participated in the current talks.
President Trump did not include the IAEA among the 66 multilateral organizations from which he withdrew in 2025. As recently as March 2026, the State Department pressed the IAEA to cut inspector compensation and other expenses.
Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, said there is a real risk that Iran has diverted centrifuges to an undeclared location. Iran was capable of producing more centrifuges than were installed at Natanz and Fordow, she added.
Matthew Sharp, a senior nuclear fellow at MIT’s Center for Nuclear Security Policy, said the IAEA will find it difficult to provide confidence that Iran does not retain an undeclared enrichment capability outside the attacked facilities. Discrepancies between current Iranian disclosures and IAEA observations from more than a year ago will be hard to reconcile if material is buried or unavailable, he stated.
Davenport said envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who worked on the negotiations while pursuing personal side-deals, must center nuclear experts. Their technical incompetence caused the United States to miss critical diplomatic opportunities in the past, she stated.
