The Iran nuclear inspections dispute sharpened on Tuesday as Tehran denied agreeing to allow UN monitors back into the country, directly contradicting a claim by President Donald Trump and complicating negotiations toward a final agreement within a 60-day window.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said there are no plans for visits or inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and that Iran’s dealings with the agency would be governed by existing procedures, safeguards obligations, parliamentary legislation, and decisions by the Supreme National Security Council.
Trump had said Tehran accepted the “highest level” of monitoring as part of emerging talks. Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA after US and Israeli strikes on its nuclear facilities in June 2025.
Iran Nuclear Inspections Dispute Deepens After Years of Non-Cooperation
The IAEA has had no access to any safeguarded nuclear facilities in Iran except the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant since June 13, 2025, and Iran has not provided legally required reports on its nuclear program, according to an EU statement delivered at the IAEA Board of Governors on September 10, 2025.
An IAEA Board of Governors resolution adopted on June 12, 2025 (GOV/2025/38) found that Iran had failed to provide required cooperation under its Safeguards Agreement, impeded agency verification activities, sanitized locations, and repeatedly failed to explain uranium particles of anthropogenic origin found at several undeclared sites.
Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Al Jazeera there is “no way” Washington and Tehran can complete a final agreement within the 60-day timeframe. “I think we’re talking about at least into the next calendar year,” he said, adding that he would not be surprised if both sides simply ran out the clock while keeping the Strait of Hormuz open without reaching a deal before Trump’s presidency ends.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran would not be permitted to charge tolls in the Strait of Hormuz under any final deal, stressing the waterway must remain open to international shipping. Rubio, who also serves as Trump’s national security adviser, was visiting the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain to reassure Gulf allies and address the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Senate War Powers Vote Splits Republicans
The US Senate voted 50-48 to pass a resolution requiring congressional approval for further US military action against Iran, the first time a war powers measure on the conflict has cleared both chambers of Congress, according to ABC News.
Four Republicans, Bill Cassidy, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Rand Paul, joined nearly all Democrats in backing the measure. Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman voted against it.
The margin was tightened by the absence of two Republican senators. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania missed the vote, according to the Washington Post.
The White House dismissed the resolution as having “no significance,” with an official arguing it was driven by “Republican absences” and stating that “hostilities terminated with the ceasefire on April 7th,” meaning there are no hostilities from which to remove US forces. Trump is expected to veto the measure.
Qatar LNG Output Faces Years of Disruption
Qatar’s prime minister told the Financial Times that most LNG production could resume within weeks following the interim US-Iran deal, except at the damaged Ras Laffan site.
The scale of the damage is larger than a short-term pause. QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters that damage to two of Qatar’s 14 LNG trains and one of its two gas-to-liquids facilities will sideline roughly 12.8 million tons per year of output for three to five years, according to Fox Business.
QatarEnergy declared force majeure on long-term LNG supply contracts with customers in Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China after the March 2026 Iranian drone attack on Ras Laffan, Al Jazeera reported.
Among the affected buyers is India’s state-owned Petronet LNG, which holds a long-term contract for 7.5 million tons per year of offtake from Ras Laffan. The terminal’s total export capacity stands at 77 million tons per year, according to Argus Media. QatarEnergy said it will only lift force majeure once all safety and operational concerns are resolved.
Separately, Iran’s military said it has shifted to an “offensive doctrine” that includes preemptive operations. General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, head of Iran’s Army Strategic Studies and Research Center, said Iran could “severely surprise the enemy” if national interests required it, and noted that much of the country’s military capability has yet to be used.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the US would be “very naive” to believe Iran would abandon its nuclear program, and indicated Israel may act independently. “It is Israel’s responsibility to confront this Iranian threat and act against it alone,” he told Israel’s Channel 7.
With the 60-day negotiating window narrowing and the Iran nuclear inspections dispute unresolved, Kupchan’s warning that talks could simply run past Trump’s presidency without a binding outcome now represents the floor-case scenario both sides appear to be managing toward.
