Iran MP says nuclear talks need parliament approval

A spokesman for Iran’s parliament’s National Security Committee said Tehran would not be swayed by regional pressure over the Strait of Hormuz, as disputes continue over how the waterway should be managed under the US-Iran memorandum.

Ebrahim Rezaei wrote on X that Iran respected its regional friends but knew they fear America.

“The Islamic Republic did not conquer the Strait of Hormuz through negotiation, so it would now give it up through negotiation,” Rezaei said.

He added that Iran “is not influenced by others.”

Iran has released four Ukrainian sailors detained in the Strait of Hormuz in April, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said, weeks after the waterway became a central pressure point in Tehran’s conflict with the United States and Israel.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said the four Ukrainians were crew members aboard the Greek-owned container ship Epimonidas, one of several vessels detained by the IRGC in the Strait of Hormuz in April.

“We are pleased to report that these efforts have yielded a positive result. Four of our citizens have already left Iran. They are now safe with their families,” Tykhyi told reporters.

He said the sailors were in satisfactory health and thanked diplomats from partner countries, the shipowner and others involved in securing their release.

President Donald Trump said US inspectors will join the International Atomic Energy Agency when the UN watchdog visits Iran’s nuclear sites, directly contradicting Tehran’s claim that no such inspections have been scheduled.

“They’ve agreed to it, they’ve agreed to the inspectors,” Trump told Fox News on Wednesday.

Trump was responding after Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday there were no scheduled visits for the IAEA to inspect Iranian nuclear facilities damaged in US and Israeli strikes.

“We have not had a meeting with the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, nor do we have any plans for an agency inspection of Iran’s nuclear facilities that were damaged as a result of the military attack by the United States and the Zionist regime,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tuesday. “Basically, there is no procedure at all in this regard.”

Trump accused Iran of denying commitments after agreeing to them.

“They’ll make a deal, put it in writing, then they’ll go out and say it’s not true,” he said.

The president added that there was no rush to send inspectors in, suggesting Washington is treating access to nuclear sites as part of the continuing negotiation rather than an immediate step.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that a very large share of funds made available under the Iran arrangement would be used to buy US food and medicine under Treasury oversight.

"Any money Iranians receive is for Iranians," Bessent told CNBC.

He said Treasury would oversee the spending.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran had told Washington it would not seek tolls, insurance costs or other charges from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

"Iran has informed the U.S. that ... there are ‘NO TOLLS, NO INSURANCE COSTS, & NO OTHER CHARGES OF ANY KIND BEING SOUGHT OR RECEIVED BY IRAN ON SHIPS TRAVELING THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ,’" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"If this is false information, negotiations would end, immediately!" he added.

Trump also said the United States had not released Iranian funds to Tehran. He said Washington would release some Iranian money under US control to American farmers and ranchers to buy corn, wheat, soybeans and other food for Iran.

"Food is desperately needed in Iran, and we will be purchasing it for them exclusively from the United States," Trump wrote.