Overview
- The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding in mid‑June that paused active fighting, lifted a U.S. naval blockade and opened a 60‑day technical window for IAEA‑monitored verification and sequencing talks.
- Negotiators in Switzerland have set up four working groups on sanctions, nuclear issues, reconstruction and monitoring, plus contact and deconfliction mechanisms to manage ship movements through the Strait of Hormuz and Lebanon-related violence.
- Washington has issued a temporary 60‑day waiver on Iranian oil sales and begun arrangements to release frozen funds, while Tehran says it will decide how to use any unfrozen assets and rejects U.S. claims of escrow control.
- A sharp public dispute has emerged over whether Iran agreed to allow IAEA inspections of nuclear sites hit in the war, with U.S. leaders saying yes and Iranian officials denying any commitment, making verification a central sticking point.
- Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has partly resumed under an IMO evacuation plan for stranded crews, but renewed Israel‑Lebanon clashes and domestic political backlash in the U.S., Israel and Iran keep the truce fragile.