Pakistan’s foreign ministry confirmed on Wednesday that technical negotiations between the United States and Iran will resume next week, with the most likely date being 29 or 30 June in Switzerland. The talks, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, follow the electronic signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding on 17 June, which established a 60-day framework to negotiate a permanent settlement ending the Middle East war and addressing Iran’s nuclear programme, sanctions, and maritime security.

Viewed from Washington, the priority is securing unrestricted access for international nuclear inspectors. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Kuwait, insisted Iran must ‘allow nuclear inspectors in as soon as possible’ and confirmed that American experts would join IAEA teams to locate highly enriched uranium stockpiles. President Donald Trump claimed on social media that Iran had agreed to ‘full and complete nuclear inspections at the highest level (forever!)’. However, Iranian officials have publicly rejected any such commitment. Tehran’s chief negotiator, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, described the memorandum as a ‘declaration of America’s defeat’, attributing it to Iranian resistance rather than external pressure. Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian separately asserted that without its missile arsenal, Iran ‘would have been destroyed like Gaza’, and declared the ballistic programme non-negotiable.

The two sides also diverge on the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio reiterated that no country may impose tolls or transit fees on an international waterway, while Iran and Oman announced they would pursue a bilateral agreement on future management of navigation and associated costs. The International Maritime Organization has begun evacuating over 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Gulf after Iran closed the strait during the conflict. On Lebanon, the memorandum envisages a de-escalation cell involving the parties, Lebanon, Qatar, and Pakistan to enforce a cessation of hostilities. Ghalibaf stated that stopping the war in Lebanon is as important as stopping a war with Iran.

The resumption of technical talks follows a high-level political meeting on 21 June in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, where delegations led by US Vice President J.D. Vance and Iranian speaker Ghalibaf agreed to establish working groups on the nuclear file, sanctions, monitoring, and dispute resolution. A joint statement by the mediators described the atmosphere as ‘positive and constructive’. Yet the conflicting interpretations of what was agreed on inspections and Hormuz underscore the fragility of the process. The IAEA’s director general, Rafael Grossi, confirmed that inspectors would visit Iranian enrichment sites, but Tehran maintains it will not admit inspectors to locations bombed by Israel and the United States. With the 60-day negotiation clock ticking, the technical teams face the task of translating a broad ceasefire framework into verifiable commitments, even as fundamental gaps persist over the scope of nuclear transparency and the terms of maritime passage.