President Donald Trump announced “major combat operations” against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Delegations from the United States and Iran arrived over the weekend at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland, where they entered negotiations aimed at a war-ending deal based on a memorandum of understanding signed last week by both countries.
Latest Developments
Jun 23, 2:02 PM
Trump insists Iran agreed to nuclear inspections, says he’d ‘cancel’ negotiations if not
President Donald Trump maintained his claims that Iran has agreed to nuclear inspections, telling reporters on Tuesday that he’d “cancel the meetings right now” if they didn’t comply.
Trump said that Iran would allow inspectors into their country but claimed there was currently “no rush” to send them.
Despite the fact that an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said there is no scheduled meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, Trump remained firm in his argument that it will take place and said the Iranians are “wrong” in their public statements.
Pressed on when the inspectors will actually be on the ground in Iran, Trump said “at the appropriate time.”
-ABC News’ Emily Chang, Isabella Murray and Michelle Stoddart
Jun 23, 12:51 PM
Strait of Hormuz crossings nearly triple, Marine Traffic and Kpler data show
Strait of Hormuz crossings nearly tripled week-on-week as traffic rebounds sharply after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, according to Marine Traffic and Kpler data.
“According to #MarineTraffic data and Kpler data, confirmed crossings rose from 32 vessels between 12–14 June to 93 vessels between 19–21 June, an increase of 61 crossings week-on-week. The sharpest change came on Saturday, when crossings jumped from 3 to 42 compared with the previous weekend,” according to Marine Traffic.
Jun 23, 11:52 AM
International Maritime Organization announces evacuation plan in Strait of Hormuz
The International Maritime Organization announced an evacuation plan for over 11,000 seafarers stranded in the region, saying it has secured the “necessary safety guarantees and have thoroughly verified the conditions for safe navigation to support these operations.”
“This large-scale operation will be carried out in close cooperation with Iran, Oman, all other coastal States in the region, the United States and the maritime industry,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement.
“After months of hardship and distress for thousands of innocent seafarers, and negative impact for the whole world, I welcome with deep satisfaction the peace agreement concluded between the United States and Iran, marking a decisive step towards restoring maritime security and bringing to an end the unacceptable attacks against civilian shipping,” Dominguez said.
Jun 23, 7:56 AM
Trump says ‘no further Naval Blockade,’ saying Iran agreed to nuclear inspections
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iranian officials agreed “fully and completely” to allow inspections of its nuclear sites, saying the Strait of Hormuz would remain open as long as Tehran held to those terms.
Iran’s Foreign Minister spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said early on Tuesday that Tehran does not “have any plans” to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to access sites damaged during the war, according to Iranian state media.
Elisabeth Mandl/Reuters – PHOTO: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Raffael Grossi speaks to the media on the opening day of his agency’s quarterly Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, June 8, 2026.
Despite Iran’s “protestations and false statements to the contrary,” officials in Tehran have “fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!),” Trump said on social media on Tuesday. “This will insure ‘Nuclear Honesty.’ If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations!”
“Based on this and other major concessions being made by Iran, I have agreed to allow the Hormuz Strait to remain OPEN, with no further Naval Blockade,” Trump added. “However, all ships are remaining in place should it be necessary to reinstitute the Blockade, which seems, at this point, highly unlikely.”
Iran and the United States agreed to allow traffic through the strait as part of the terms of the memorandum of understanding signed last week by both countries.
Jun 23, 6:40 AM
IAEA visits to Iran have not been planned, Iranian official says
Iran does not “have any plans” to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to access sites damaged during the war, the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, said on Tuesday, according to Iranian state media.
“Fundamentally, there is no established protocol for such a situation,” he said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
Elisabeth Mandl/Reuters – PHOTO: The IAEA logo is displayed in front of the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 5, 2026.
Iran’s delegation did not meet with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi during the U.S.-Iranian talks in Switzerland, IRNA reported.
Vice President JD Vance said on Monday during a news conference in Lucerne, Switzerland, that Iran had agreed to allow the United Nations-affiliated IAEA inspectors to enter their country.
“The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country,” Vance told reporters at Bürgenstock, the Swiss resort where the talks were held.
He added, “That is a major milestone for the American people, and the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran, and that’s exactly what we wanted to do, that’s exactly what we asked to happen.”
-ABC News’ Jamie Dorrington and Fritz Farrow
Jun 22, 4:13 PM
Rubio held calls with Netanyahu, Lebanese president
In addition to speaking with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Secretary of State Rubio also held a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to discuss “solidifying” a ceasefire and “future talks,” a U.S. official confirmed.
As a result of those calls, the U.S. “started a monitoring mechanism via CENTCOM so that our policymakers have real time and accurate information about fighting in Lebanon,” the official said.
The official also confirmed that another round of talks between representatives of Israel and Lebanon are set to take place in Washington this week over the course of three days.
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
Jun 22, 2:14 PM
Vance says negotiators ‘making progress’ as he leaves talks in SwitzerlandVice President JD Vance left the first days of technical negotiations with Iran projecting optimism, telling reporters as he left Switzerland that he felt “great about the progress that we made.”
“The fundamental thing we got is, No. 1, we set up the mechanism to ensure not only the Straits of Hormuz are open, but will stay open,” Vance said.
Nathan Howard/Reuters – PHOTO: Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media before boarding Air Force Two, after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks at the Lake Lucerne Summit, at Emmen Military Air Base, Emmen, Switzerland, June 22, 2026.
“… No. 2, we actually set up the right mechanism to ensure the regional cease fire to manage the inevitable conflicts that will come up,” Vance said.
Vance reiterated his earlier comments in which he said Iran will be allowing IAEA inspectors into the country.
Vance said the U.S. will have to “see” what Iran “actually let[s] the inspectors do” once they are in Iran.
“We have the Iranians allowing weapons inspectors, nuclear inspectors into their country for the first time in a long time. We’re obviously going to bolster those inspections, that inspection regime, to make sure they can never have a nuclear weapon,” Vance said.
Inspections were part of the Obama-era agreement that Trump canceled during his first term, after which Iran stopped letting international inspectors in.
-ABC News’ Emily Chang, Hannah Demissie and Michelle Stoddart
Jun 22, 1:33 PM
Trump says Iran will have to ‘agree to have Major Weapons Inspections’
Hours after Vice President JD Vance announced from Switzerland that Iran agreed to let international nuclear inspectors into the country, President Donald Trump said on social media that Iran will have to “agree to have Major Weapons Inspections” for a long period of time.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo – PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks during a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, June 18, 2026, in Washington.
“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 the post.
Inspections were part of the Obama-era agreement that Trump canceled during his first term, after which Iran stopped letting international inspectors in.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Jun 22, 11:59 AM
Rubio to visit UAE, Kuwait, BahrainSecretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to visit the Middle East this week for the first time since the war with Iran began, with stops planned in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain, according to the State Department.
He is slated to leave Tuesday and return on Thursday.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo/ – PHOTO: Secretary of State, Marco Rubio listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the G7 summit, June 17, 2026, in Evian-les-Bains, France.
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
Jun 22, 10:05 AM
US issues sanctions waivers on Iranian oil following MOU with Iran
The Trump administration has formally issued a waiver on the sale on Iranian oil, following through on a promise from the Memorandum of Understanding signed by President Donald Trump.
The waiver legalizes the sale of Iranian oil and allows transactions involving vessels that had been previously sanctioned.
The sanctions will be waived for a 60-day period beginning Monday and ending at 12:01 a.m. ET on Aug. 21.
The waiver also allows for “any payment of funds owed to Iran, the Government of Iran, or any blocked person for the purchase of crude oil” to be made in U.S. dollars.
The waiver does not, however, allow the sanctions on Iranian oil to be lifted for people in North Korea, Cuba and parts of Ukraine like Crimea.
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston and Michelle Stoddart