Like Unrequited Love, US Claims Once Again Denied by Iran
The administration of US President Donald Trump continues to claim that Tehran has agreed to major concessions in negotiations following the release of a memorandum of understanding last week. However, all of Washington’s unilateral claims are absent from the official document and have been consistently denied by Iran.
Citing a CNN analysis on Wednesday (24/06/2026), the situation is fuelling global uncertainty over the direction of peace between the two nations. The main issues under fierce dispute include permission for nuclear inspections, control over the disbursement of billions of dollars in assets, and the status of toll-free passage through the strategic Strait of Hormuz trade route.
Nuclear Inspections
The dispute peaked on Tuesday morning when President Donald Trump made a sweeping statement on his Truth Social media account. He declared that Iran had fully committed to granting access for strict, open-ended monitoring of its nuclear programme.
“… Iran has fully and totally agreed to the highest level of Nuclear inspections far into the future (Unlimited!!!),” Trump wrote. “This will ensure ‘Nuclear Honesty.’ If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations!”
Echoing the president, Vice President JD Vance described the agreement for the entry of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection teams as a major achievement during a press conference in Switzerland on Monday. However, this narrative was immediately refuted by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, who stressed that cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog would only proceed under existing, long-standing procedures.
“Cooperation with the IAEA will continue under the same procedures,” Baghaei asserted, adding that his country had made no new commitments or permitted inspections at nuclear sites damaged by war.
Trump refused to back down and insisted on his claim while in Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon. He even threatened to dismantle the diplomatic agenda if Iran was proven to be lying. “They’re wrong, they’re wrong,” Trump told journalists. “We have it on record: 100% inspections. And if they are right, I will cancel these meetings right now.”
Use of Unfrozen Assets for American Products
The Trump administration also claimed this week that billions of dollars in Iranian funds unfrozen under the peace draft must be spent on American agricultural products. The move was touted as a strategy by the negotiation team led by Jared Kushner to prevent the funds from being misused to rebuild Tehran’s military strength.
“The money will actually be used to buy American soybeans, American corn, and American wheat for the benefit of the Iranian people,” Vance said on Monday. “If Iran’s assets are unfrozen, they will make American farmers richer and help feed the Iranian people.”
While US Ambassador to the UN Michael Waltz also promoted the claim, he acknowledged that the mechanism for overseeing the funds was not yet finalised. “How we control the money is being negotiated right now as we speak,” Waltz admitted when pressed on the legal force of the agreement.
A sharp rebuttal was immediately issued by Iran’s Ambassador to the UN, Ali Bahreini, on Tuesday, who asserted his country’s full sovereignty over its financial assets. “Iran is the only country that decides what to do with its assets,” Bahreini stated. “I reject any claim regarding the role of another country in influencing that decision or process.”
Strait of Hormuz Toll-Free Passage
Regarding the global logistics route, the official MOU document only states that commercial ships are permitted to transit the Strait of Hormuz without charge for a very limited period. “Ships will be allowed to transit the Strait of Hormuz without fees, only for 60 days,” reads an excerpt from the cooperation document.
However, Trump claimed to G7 leaders in France that the vital energy passageway would be permanently free of charge after the 60-day grace period ended. “Someone said, oh, it’s toll-free for—no, it’s toll-free, period,” Trump said. “When this route is opened permanently, it will be toll-free. We had a little debate about that; but it’s toll-free.”
Conversely, Iran has rejected the claim of permanent free passage and is reportedly moving to implement a tariff scheme for maritime services on transiting vessels. The ongoing deadlock even prompted Trump to issue a unilateral threat over the weekend to deploy the military to take control of the Strait of Hormuz.