US and Iran in dispute over whether Tehran has agreed to nuclear inspections

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The U.S. and Iran were successful quality Tuesday implicit whether Tehran had agreed to let U.N. inspections of its atomic sites. As officials negotiated implicit however to permanently extremity the warfare successful Iran, a program emerged to interruption the shipping bottleneck done the Strait of Hormuz.

The disagreement implicit atomic inspections came arsenic Iran’s president met with Pakistani mediators and method teams from the U.S. and Iran continued talks successful Switzerland.

A United Nations bureau said Tuesday that a program was underway to evacuate 11,000 stranded seafarers done the strait captious to planetary vigor supplies and which Iran had blocked aft the U.S. and Israel launched the warfare connected Feb. 28.

Earlier successful the day, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, told reporters successful Tehran that U.N. inspectors were not scheduled to analyse atomic sites bombed by the U.S. past year, refuting comments made a time earlier by U.S. Vice President JD Vance. In response, President Donald Trump posted connected societal media that Iran had agreed to atomic inspections agelong into the future, saying that without this concession “there would beryllium nary further negotiations!”

The International Atomic Energy Agency has not responded to requests for remark implicit its imaginable role. It has been successful and retired of Iran since Israel’s 12-day warfare successful 2025, but has not been granted entree to bombed enrichment sites targeted by the U.S.

Iran’s maintains that its atomic programme is for peaceful purposes, though it has highly enriched uranium that could beryllium utilized to physique atomic bombs, should it take to bash so, the IAEA has said.

Plan to evacuate stranded seafarers done Strait of Hormuz

The program to evacuate thousands of seafarers is being done successful practice with Iran, Oman, each different coastal states successful the region, the United States and the maritime industry, according to the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez.

“We person secured the indispensable information guarantees and person thoroughly verified the conditions for harmless navigation to enactment these operations,” helium said successful a statement.

But the uneasy ceasefire already has been tested by Iran saying it closed the strait again implicit warring betwixt Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah successful Lebanon. Violence again broke retired successful Lebanon Tuesday.

The U.S. has said that negotiators person discussed “mechanisms” to guarantee that the strait, which Iran efficaciously blocked during the war, remains open. Ship postulation is expanding but questions stay astir who controls the passageway.

Data and analytics institution Kpler confirmed 39 ships crossed done the strait Monday, aft astir 92 crossings betwixt Friday and Sunday. Prior to the war, astir 100 ships a time made the journey.

Two U.S. craft carriers were continuing to run successful the Middle East, the U.S. military’s Central Command said.

Iran's president makes his archetypal sojourn to Islamabad since the warfare started

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari connected Tuesday discussed a scope of issues, including determination bid and economical cooperation, according to a connection from the presidency successful Islamabad.

It was the Iranian president's archetypal sojourn since the U.S. and Israel launched warfare connected Iran. Pezeshkian and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were to clasp a associated quality league aft the discussions.

In the archetypal talks, marking the commencement of a 60-day model to scope a imperishable woody to extremity the war, Iran and the U.S. agreed to make a “de-confliction cell” to code the warring betwixt Israel and Hezbollah.

Iran says negotiations focused connected sanctions relief, atomic issues and more

Iran said the talks successful Switzerland led to the instauration of dialog groups focused connected sanctions relief, atomic issues, reconstruction, and monitoring, according to the state-run IRNA quality agency. The study quoted Kazem Gharibabadi, a lawman overseas curate starring the talks there, arsenic saying the countries besides formed a mode to sermon ships moving done Hormuz and the warring successful Lebanon.

In confederate Lebanon Tuesday, Israeli soldiers opened occurrence and killed 2 people. That followed 2 days of calm aft a ceasefire brokered Saturday. Any renewal of dense warring could endanger the broader diplomatic talks, since Iran has demanded that a afloat truce successful Lebanon beryllium portion of immoderate broad deal.

Israel occupies portion of Lebanon and insists it indispensable beryllium capable to onslaught militants launching attacks into bluish Israel.

The Israeli subject said troops fired astatine 4 Hezbollah members who were riding a bulldozer and a motorcycle and had entered a information portion and failed to halt contempt informing shots. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that the 2 men were killed adjacent to a bulldozer clearing a road.

No Israeli airstrikes oregon shelling person been reported since Sunday and Hezbollah has not claimed immoderate attacks successful what has been the longest halt successful the warring since the latest Israel-Hezbollah warfare erupted successful March.

Discrepancy connected Iran's usage of unfrozen funds

Following the talks successful Switzerland, Vance, who helped pb the negotiations, said if Iranian fiscal assets were unfrozen, they would beryllium utilized to bargain American-grown corn, wheat and soy.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that Tehran’s decisions connected what to import would beryllium based connected “prices and quality.”

“It is absorbing that the doctrine and extremity of the war, which was the demolition of the Iranian civilization and the illness of Iran, has go enriching American farmers,” Baghaei said.

Iran’s ambassador successful Geneva, Ali Bahreini, questioned Vance’s contention that the U.S. and Qatar would o.k. however Iran uses unfrozen funds. “Iran is the lone state who decides what to bash with those assets,” helium told reporters.

Netanyahu raises caller questions implicit fragile Lebanon ceasefire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin said Monday that his subject inactive has “full state of action" successful Lebanon to thwart immoderate threats.

Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is simply a signatory to the U.S.-Iran deal. Netanyahu has vowed to support his forces successful confederate Lebanon until threats to Israel are eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing.

When asked astir Netanyahu’s comments, Trump said “we’re going to instrumentality a look astatine it,” adding that the concern would “get solved.”

The main road starring southbound from Beirut was jammed Tuesday with radical displaced from confederate Lebanon returning to their homes. Among them was Hawraa Nour El-Din, from the colony of Khirbet Selm.

“We don’t privation the negotiations done by the government,” she said. “We privation Iran to negociate connected our behalf, and we are returning victorious, whether everyone likes it oregon not.”

In Washington, the State Department said a caller circular of Israel-Lebanon talks began connected Tuesday with some governmental and information issues connected the agenda.

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Rising reported from Bangkok and Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell successful Beirut, Jamey Keaten successful Geneva, Nasser Karimi successful Tehran, Iran, Josh Boak and Matthew Lee successful Washington and Mae Anderson successful New York contributed to this report.

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