US President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that Iran has agreed to allow nuclear inspections long into the future, despite statements from Iran that it has not done so.
“Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!),” he wrote in a social media post. “This will insure ‘Nuclear Honesty.’ If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations!”
Iran has denied it had begun discussions on its nuclear programme or agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back to the country.
Trump also said that the United States would leave ships in the Strait of Hormuz in case it becomes necessary to reimpose its blockade of Iranian ports, something he said was “at this point, highly unlikely.” He added that 19 million barrels of oil flowed out of the Hormuz Strait on Monday.
The United States waived sanctions on Iran for 60 days from Monday after the first talks under a nascent peace deal.
Trump on Tuesday said the funds that the U.S. Treasury is releasing will go into escrow under U.S. control and will be used to buy food and medical supplies exclusively from the United States, including corn, wheat, and soybeans.
“These are things that are desperately needed by Iran. This is a humanitarian crisis, and I feel it is necessary to help, NOW, before it is too late,” Trump wrote.
Meanwhile, Tehran voiced Tuesday its intent to maintain control over the vital Strait of Hormuz, a crucial question in the Middle East war talks with Washington that just wrapped up in Switzerland.
“The Strait of Hormuz will never return to its pre-war conditions and will be administered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with international law,” Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, state media reported Tuesday.
The Strait of Hormuz had reopened last week, after Washington and Tehran reached an agreement, but Tehran announced on Saturday it had closed it again in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
As part of their deal, Washington agreed to release $12 billion in frozen funds to Iran, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday, and temporarily suspend sanctions on oil from the Islamic republic.
The US Treasury said the decision involved temporarily lifting sanctions on Iran to allow it to produce, sell and deliver crude and related products through August 21.
Iran has been subject to asset freezes and sweeping sanctions by the United States and other Western countries since its 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.