Iran denies Vance claim on IAEA inspectors' return

June 23 (UPI) -- Iran on Tuesday said there has been no change in its relationship with the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, denying claims made by U.S. Vice President JD Vance that Tehran has agreed to permit inspectors to return.

"Iran's interactions with the agency, in accordance with Iran's obligations under the Safeguards Agreement, will continue according to existing procedures and comply with the laws enacted by the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the decisions of the Supreme National Security Council," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei told the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors departed Iran on July 4, 2025, two days after Iran suspended cooperation with the U.N. agency, after it found Tehran was in non-compliance with its nuclear safeguards agreement and in the wake of Israel's attacks on its nuclear facilities the month prior.

The suspension curtailed inspections mandated by Iran's safeguards agreement with the IAEA and further unraveled monitoring arrangements tied to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from during his first term in 2018.

Speaking to reporters Monday on progress in U.S.-Iran negotiations to implement an MOU to end their war, Vance said Iran had agreed to allow the return of IAEA inspectors, a development he called "a major milestone for the American people."

Iran's nuclear program has long been a target of Trump, going back to his first administration, and he has justified the U.S. war with Iran as necessary to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Vance hailed what he described as Iran's invitation for IAEA inspectors to return as "the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran."

"And that's exactly what we wanted to do," he said. "That's exactly what we asked to happen."

He said the Trump administration expects inspectors to be back in Iran as soon as this week, with conversations with them potentially beginning later that day.

Trump on Monday commented on the issue of inspectors on his Truth Social platform, stating, "everybody is fully aware that Iran will agree to have Major Weapons Inspections in order to ensure 'Nuclear Honesty' long into the future."

In a social media statement published later Tuesday and seemingly in response to Trump and Vance, Baqaei urged the U.S. officials against exaggeration, warning it could prevent implementation of the MOU.

"If power is not proven in war, it will not be proven through exaggeration after an agreement either," he said.

"Agreement stands on the shoulders of respect and fidelity to reality; and any self-congratulatory narrative constructed to compensate for past failures will, above all, destroy that very process of agreement."

UPI has contacted the IAEA for comment.