On June 22, 2026 (Day 116 of the Iran-Israel-US war, Operation Epic Fury / Monday), the first round of high-level talks in Switzerland wrapped up with concrete deliverables on the hardest tracks — nuclear and sanctions — even as Iran disputed the framing and the core enrichment question remained unresolved. THE NUCLEAR MILESTONE: Vice President JD Vance said Iran had agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country, calling it “a major milestone for the American people and the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran,” and said coordination between Iran, the US and the IAEA for a visit would take place “this week, maybe as soon as today” (Times of Israel, CNBC, NPR, Axios). THE SANCTIONS WAIVER: the US Treasury issued a 60-day general license waiving sanctions so Iran can produce, deliver and sell oil sanction-free until August 21 to nearly every country in the world, including the US — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the decision followed “productive talks” and that Iran had committed to free and open transit in the Strait of Hormuz and to permit IAEA inspectors (CNN). VANCE’S SCORECARD: Vance said US negotiators accomplished all four objectives they brought to the talks — a mechanism to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, a Lebanon de-confliction mechanism, nuclear inspections, and a frozen-funds mechanism — and departed after what he called “a productive 36 hours,” acknowledging “a little bit of whining from the Iranians” and that Iran’s team had threatened to walk after Trump’s weekend threats but never did (Fox, CNBC, Axios). THE DISPUTES: Iranian state media and officials denied Tehran had made “any new commitments” on inspectors, and Iran has not publicly confirmed the inspections; President Masoud Pezeshkian said “we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it” — leaving the central nuclear gap (enrichment vs. inspections) unresolved despite the progress (CNN, NPR). HORMUZ: Vance said good progress was made on a coordination mechanism for demining the strait but that much work remained to get traffic flowing, and maritime data trackers reported shipping through the chokepoint — about a quarter of the world’s energy supply — had stalled over the weekend after Iran’s closure announcement, even as CENTCOM had said it stayed open (CNBC). FROZEN FUNDS: no Iranian funds have been released yet, but the parties agreed a mechanism restricting unfrozen assets to buying US farm produce such as soybeans for the benefit of the Iranian people, and Iran signed an asset agreement with Qatar (Axios, Times of Israel). LEBANON: technical talks continued with a joint military-political session, the US side now led by State’s Dan Holler and the Pentagon’s Daniel Zimmerman, aimed at “enabling Israel and Lebanon to negotiate as two sovereign states” — though Israel was notably not named in the de-confliction-cell statement and it is unclear Netanyahu has signed off; Netanyahu reaffirmed the IDF will retain broad authority to strike and remain in the southern Lebanon security zone “for as long as necessary” (CNN, Fox). A cautiously positive note: UNIFIL’s interim head told NPR that for the first time since the war began on March 2, peacekeeping conditions had improved. Net assessment: Day 116 banked real progress — a dated sanctions waiver, a claimed IAEA-inspection breakthrough, and a demining mechanism — that consolidates the deal, but the gap between Vance’s “all objectives met” and Iran’s “no new commitments,” plus Pezeshkian’s enrichment red line and Netanyahu’s Lebanon defiance, marks exactly where the 60-day final-deal fight will be won or lost.