ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - US President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on the demand that nuclear inspectors be allowed to enter Iran under the provisions of the memorandum of understanding (MoU), coming as Tehran has adopted an ambiguous position on the allowance of the UN nuclear watchdog to operate within its territory.

“Everybody is fully aware that Iran will agree to have Major Weapons Inspections in order to ensure ‘Nuclear Honesty’ long into the future,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, coming as US officials have stressed that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials must be permitted to inspect Iranian nuclear sites.

Earlier on Monday, US Vice President JD Vance told reporters that Iran had agreed to allow nuclear inspectors back into the country, noting that while he expects the process to begin “at a minimum this week,“ formal discussions with the inspectors and the IAEA “could happen as soon as today.“

The 14-point MoU details that Iran will be oligated to dispose of its stockpiles of enriched uranium “under the supervision of the IAEA,“ but Tehran appears to have refrained from expressing a firm commitment to inviting the agency to its nuclear sites

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei earlier in the day said that Iran's cooperation with the watchdog “will continue in accordance with the existing procedures and in line with the legislation passed by the Parliament and the decisions of the Supreme National Security Council.”

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Fars News Agency reported on the same day that “the claim by the US Vice President about the return of agency inspectors to Iran is false,” citing a source allegedly close to the Iranian negotiating team.

“In the Switzerland negotiations, there was no discussion about the presence of inspectors in the country,” the source added, according to the semi-official outlet.

Iran has extensively criticized the IAEA in the past, arguing that a resolution accusing Tehran of nuclear non-compliance served as a justification for US-Israeli strikes during the 12-Day War of 2025.

Iranian officials subsequently slammed the IAEA for not issuing a condemnation of the attacks, announcing in September that it would suspend cooperation with the watchdog after the UK, France, and Germany imposed “snapback“ sanctions on Iran for failing to adhere to the aforementioned nuclear regulations.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an X post announcing the removal of sanctions on Iranian oil production and export, said that “Iran has committed to free and open transit in the Strait of Hormuz and to permit International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors into their country.“