There appears to be a significant divergence between the United States and Iran over what was agreed during the first round of talks held in Switzerland on Sunday. While US Vice President JD Vance said
any release of frozen Iranian assets would depend on Tehran’s future commitments and verification measures, Iran has maintained that Washington has already agreed to ease restrictions and release some sanctioned assets.
Differences have also emerged over the issue of nuclear inspections. Vance suggested that Iran had agreed to allow international inspectors greater access, a claim Tehran has pushed back against.
What Vance said on frozen assets
A day after returning to the United States following talks with Iran in Switzerland, Vance said the release of frozen Iranian assets would be linked to continued progress in negotiations.
“Fundamentally, that money is not going to be unfrozen unless we continue to see progress, and that will obviously be a big part of the negotiation in the days to come,” he said.
Vance stressed that Washington would assess Iran based on its actions rather than its assurances.
He also highlighted the importance of international inspections and said the United States would closely monitor Iran’s cooperation with nuclear inspectors.
“You can’t trust anybody’s words—you have to trust what they actually do. Letting in the inspectors is a big deal—but again, we’re going to see what they actually let the inspectors do once they’re in the country. That’s going to continually be part of our negotiation,” Vance said.
Disagreement over nuclear inspections
Vance also claimed that Iran had agreed to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) back into the country, describing it as “probably what we’re most excited about as Americans”.
However, Iran rejected that interpretation. Responding to Vance’s remarks, Tehran said its cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog would continue “under the current procedures”, signalling that no new arrangement regarding inspections had been agreed upon.
The differing statements have added to uncertainty over the precise outcomes of the Switzerland talks.
The remarks came after the first round of US-Iran negotiations concluded at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland on Sunday.
Iran projects a different outcome
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi presented a markedly different assessment of the talks.
Speaking after the negotiations, Araghchi said, “Oil and petrochemical exports have been waived, the blockade has been lifted, some frozen assets have been released, and a major reconstruction and development plan has been launched for Iran.”
Also, Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who was also part of the Iranian delegation, said, “Regarding the release of frozen assets, under Clause 11, two separate amounts of $6 billion each were to be released. The necessary steps had already been taken during the trip to Qatar, but the final signature had to be completed during the Switzerland trip, which has now been done.”
His statement suggested that tangible economic relief had already been secured, contrasting with Vance’s position that any asset release would depend on future progress and compliance.
US seeks safeguards on released funds
Earlier, Vance had indicated that any future release of frozen Iranian assets would be structured to ensure the money was used for civilian purposes rather than military activities or support for armed groups.
“We wanted to make sure that we set up a process where if we ever unfreeze Iranian assets, we can ensure that that money, that Iranian money goes to help the people of Iran and not to fund terrorism,” he said.
According to Vance, Washington is exploring mechanisms that would allow oversight of how any released funds are spent.
He also referred to a proposal developed by senior adviser Jared Kushner in coordination with Qatar.
Under the proposal, any Iranian assets that are eventually unfrozen would be subject to approval by both the United States and Qatar. The funds would then be directed towards purchasing American agricultural products.
“Jared Kushner actually came up with a very interesting solution with the Qataris, where basically – again if there is any frozen Iranian assets that are unfrozen – then we have approval over that process, the Qataris have approval over that process, and then the money would actually go to buy American soy, American corn and American wheat for the benefit of the Iranian people,” Vance said.
He argued that such an arrangement would support Iranian citizens while benefiting American farmers.
“If Iranian assets are ever unfrozen, they’re going to go to make American farmers richer and feed the Iranian people. That’s a very, very good and very classic Trump deal,” he said.
Frozen assets remain central to talks
Iran has faced asset freezes and wide-ranging sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
There is no official estimate for the total value of frozen Iranian assets. However, media reports and expert assessments generally place the figure above $100 billion.
Some estimates put the value between $100 billion and $120 billion, depending on how blocked oil revenues and other restricted funds are calculated.
