Overview
- Negotiators signed a preliminary memorandum to halt active hostilities and opened four technical working groups on sanctions, nuclear issues, reconstruction, and monitoring following the June round of talks.
- The IAEA director said inspectors will visit Iran’s enrichment sites, but Iranian officials deny consenting to inspections of some sites damaged by strikes and dispute reported meetings with the agency.
- Iran’s delegation announced the unblocking of $12 billion in frozen assets split into two tranches while Washington says the funds will be restricted for humanitarian purchases and subject to oversight, a claim Tehran rejects.
- Control and transit rules for the Strait of Hormuz are contested as the U.S. says the waterway is reopened without fees while Iranian negotiators insist Iran will play a central role in managing passage, creating routing and insurance uncertainty for shippers.
- Domestic U.S. politics are now a factor after the Senate approved a mostly symbolic 50–48 resolution limiting the president’s war powers, signaling bipartisan concern that could shape how the memorandum is carried out.