The Trump administration temporarily lifted oil sanctions against Iran on Monday in a sharp reversal of U.S. policy that could provide Iran with an economic boon after years of having to sell at a discount to buyers who risked running afoul of the United States.<\/p>\n
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said<\/a> that the 60-day sanctions exemption, which authorizes the purchase of Iranian oil in U.S. dollars, giving Iran greater access to American currency, was the result of \u201congoing productive\u201d talks with Iran in B\u00fcrgenstock, Switzerland.<\/p>\n Vice President JD Vance, who has been leading the U.S. negotiating team in B\u00fcrgenstock, said that Tehran had agreed to allow United Nations inspectors to visit Iran\u2019s nuclear sites. He called that development \u201ca major milestone for the American people and the first step in permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n President Trump also made the claim, posting Monday on social media: \u201cEverybody is fully aware that Iran will agree to have Major Weapons Inspections in order to ensure \u2018Nuclear Honesty\u2019 long into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n But it was not clear if nuclear inspectors would travel to Iran. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, did not immediately respond to the comments by Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance. And the spokesman for Iran\u2019s foreign ministry, Esmail Baghaei, told Iran\u2019s state news agency, IRNA, that Tehran had made \u201cno new commitments\u201d on nuclear inspections, and that any engagement with U.N. inspectors would take place \u201cunder existing procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n At a news conference in B\u00fcrgenstock, Mr. Vance also described new lines of communication established to de-escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and in Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia, appear to have eased their attacks. Those two issues<\/a> have complicated the delicate cease-fire between the United States and Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a work in progress,\u201d Mr. Vance said, adding that the new process in Lebanon would help \u201censure it doesn\u2019t spiral out of control in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, Mr. Vance said, the negotiations with Iran that began on Sunday had set a \u201cvery good foundation\u201d for a final peace deal. Qatari and Pakistani officials, who mediated the talks, said that \u201cencouraging progress has been made.\u201d<\/p>\n U.N. inspections of Iran\u2019s nuclear sites and the lifting of American sanctions would effectively restore key parts of a nuclear agreement that the Obama administration struck with Iran in 2015. Mr. Trump withdrew the United States<\/a> from that agreement in 2018, and declared on social media as recently as April<\/a> that it was \u201cone of the Worst Deals ever.\u201d<\/p>\n