Iran releases four Ukrainian sailors detained in Strait of Hormuz

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.

Iran’s Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said on Wednesday he had more leeway to significantly increase the allocation and supply of foreign currency after recent US waivers and improved access to foreign assets, Noor News, a website close to the Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) reported.

Hemmati said the central bank would start using part of the foreign currency reserves built up in recent months and that a visible change in currency supply for industry would begin on Saturday, according to the report.

He said $2 billion would be supplied in the first phase, adding that increased currency access for basic goods, raw materials and production needs could help reduce import-related price pressures.

Ships have begun sailing through the Strait of Hormuz under a newly launched evacuation plan by the UN shipping agency, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization.

"Ships have already begun to pass under the plan," the spokesperson said, declining to identify the vessels.

Reuters reported that at least two dry bulk ships and one cargo vessel passed through the strait under the scheme in the past 12 hours, citing LSEG ship-tracking data.

At least 35 other commercial vessels, mainly dry bulk, cargo and container ships, were preparing to sail through the strait, Reuters reported, citing LSEG and MarineTraffic data.

The scheme, which took months to finalize, will allow hundreds of ships and about 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Persian Gulf to pass through Hormuz, the IMO said.