Having crushed Iran’s nuclear capabilities during two wars in joint attacks with the Israelis, the latest and most significant chapter of whether there will be peace is whether the regime will allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to its nuclear weapons facilities.

Conflicting statements and reports from President Trump and Iran’s Foreign Ministry suggest the U.N.’s IAEA will face the same recalcitrant policy from Tehran it has experienced for two decades in blocking its inspectors from conducting robust verification of the clerical regime’s vast nuclear facilities, including underground compounds. The IAEA sticking point might be a deal-breaker for President Trump.

David Albright, who is widely viewed as one of the world’s leading experts on Iran’s nuclear weapons program, told Fox News Digital the «IAEA comes up short» in its efforts to secure information and verification about Iran’s nuclear weapons program because «Iran has not cooperated for twenty years.»

THE RACE AGAINST TIME TO DESTROY IRAN’S ILLICIT NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM HEATS UP AMID FRESH STRIKES

Albright, a physicist and president of the Institute for Science and International Security said, «Iran loves to generate plans of action that can be extended» and the process becomes a «pointless exercise.»

For Iran experts like Albright, Iran’s skill in the art of procrastination has allowed it to stretch out talks over the decades while working to advance its work on a nuclear weapons device and a missile system to deliver it.

As a result, Albright said «it colors my view of the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding]» agreed to between the U.S. and Iran that codifies IAEA inspections of Iran’s atomic weapons program.

Albright sees the IAEA as a key test for the success of U.S.-Iran talks. «The way Iran treats the IAEA will tell us if the negotiations are meaningful,» adding that Tehran’s regime has treated the IAEA terribly in the past.

OBAMA-ERA INSPECTION FLAWS IN IRAN COULD PERSIST AS EXPERTS WARN OF NUCLEAR BLIND SPOTS

President Donald Trump (C) gestures as he addresses the media alongside United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer (L), U.S. Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick (2L), U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2R) and U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent (R) during a closing press conference at the G7 summit, in Evian, eastern France. (Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

The website of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared in a statement that «Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, speaking to reporters, denied reports published by certain media outlets claiming that the Islamic Republic of Iran has invited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect its nuclear facilities.»

A headline in the Islamic Republic News Agency Wednesday stated, «No plan for access to Iran’s attacked nuclear facilities without final deal, says deputy FM.» The regime-controlled outlet noted that Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on his X account that no meeting was held with Grossi in Switzerland, despite the IAEA head requesting that Iran meet with him. «There is no plan for access to the facilities that were attacked or to the nuclear materials,» Gharibabadi wrote.

On Friday in Japan, IAEA Director Rafael Grossi told reporters, «This agreement expressly indicates that the nuclear part will be supervised, monitored, by the IAEA.» He added that «a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was subscribed by the two presidents, by President Donald Trump and President Pezeshkian from Iran, and this agreement expressly indicates that the nuclear part will be supervised, monitored, by the IAEA.» 

He noted that «initial conversations» have started about inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites. «We hope to be there soon,» he said. It is unclear if Grossi’s team will examine all Iranian nuclear weapons facilities and suspected nuclear sites.

The IAEA declined to answer a detailed Fox News Digital press query on why previous IAEA oversight efforts failed; what would be different this time; whether inspectors can access meaningful sites or only symbolic locations; and would the IAEA focus on access to the Pickaxe Mountain facility versus sites already damaged or buried.

IRAN EXPANDS WEAPONIZATION CAPABILITIES CRITICAL FOR EMPLOYING NUCLEAR BOMB

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi meets with Iran’s then Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran, Iran, on May 6, 2024. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA)

Albright said Israel’s government has identified ten or more sites where Iran is suspected of being involved in nuclear weapons. The IAEA spokesman declined to comment on whether their inspectors will demand to visit those sites.

Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital that «Iran should be made to come clean and allow inspections not only at declared nuclear sites — especially the ones damaged during Operation Midnight Hammer — but also at universities, military bases and other state organizations that have been used to engage in dual-use research which is applicable to the development of a nuclear weapon should there be a leadership decision to do so. Inspections on Iran’s nuclear weaponization program were not part of the original 2015 JCPOA, which was one of its weaknesses.»

The JCPOA, whose formal name is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was negotiated by former President Obama’s administration in 2015. Albright, a sharp critic of the JCPOA, said the Obama deal accepted that Iran did not cooperate and «swept it under the rug.»  Albright warned that «It is really important that the U.S. [Trump administration] not do a JCPOA.»

TRUMP’S NEW IRAN DEAL FACES NUCLEAR BLIND SPOT OVER URANIUM STOCKPILE, EXPERTS WARN

Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018. He said at the time the JCPOA was a «horrible one-sided deal that should never ever have been made.»

Brodsky stressed that «Any new agreement should include more robust inspection powers. Iran’s denial of inspections at the damaged nuclear facilities since June 2025 violates its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.»

When asked about the IAEA’s impotence with respect to intrusive sanctions on Iran’s nuclear facilities, a White House spokeswoman referred Fox News Digital to Vice President JD Vance and Grossi’s comments.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict at the Lake Lucerne Summit, near Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 22, 2026. (Photo by Nathan Howard / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

«The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country. That is a major milestone for the American people, and the first step in permanently denuclearize, easing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran,» Vance said on Monday. He added, «And that’s exactly what we wanted to do. That’s exactly what we asked to happen.»

President Trump wrote on Truth Social: «Despite their protestations and false statements to the contrary, coupled with the drumbeat of the Fake News, which is doing everything possible to make the U.S. Victory as small and insignificant as possible, Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!). This will insure ‘Nuclear Honesty.’ If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations! «

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The Islamic Republic’s spokesman to the U.N. did not respond to a Fox News Digital press query.

The U.S. State Department declined to comment.

Former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pleaded guilty on Friday to only one count of an 18-count indictment, but he will not be sentenced until the fall.

During a hearing at the federal district court in Greenbelt, Maryland, Bolton pleaded guilty to the twelfth count, alleging he had unauthorized possession of a document related to national defense.

The count typically has a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars, but both sides agreed that five years will be the most prison time that can be imposed.

U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes addressed reporters outside the courthouse, emphasizing that this case demonstrated that «no one is above the law.» Hayes declined to take questions.

FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR JOHN BOLTON TO PLEAD GUILTY TO RETAINING CLASSIFIED INFORMATION: SOURCES

«The rules governing classified and national defense information apply equally to everyone, regardless of position, and regardless of how long you have served with the United States government,» Hayes began her brief remarks.

«The national defense information at issue in this case was classified at the highest classification levels,» Hayes added. «It contained human intelligence using sensitive sources and methods, and it discussed a covert action program. Mr. Bolton admitted he shared more than 1,000 pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the national security advisor.»

A prosecutor from the Department of Justice told Judge Theodore Chuang that Bolton also faces a fine of $2.25 million, half of which should be paid within 5 days, a required debrief with a U.S. intelligence committee, three years of supervised release and up to 100 hours of community service. 

Bolton, who served as national security advisor from April 2018 to September 2019, agreed that he would not get an annuity or retirement from his federal service.

When the judge asked Bolton if he was pleading guilty after having heard the summary of facts in the case, the former Trump official said: «I am your honor, and I’m sorry for it.»

The sentencing was set for October 28. The government plans to dismiss the remaining counts at that hearing.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former National Security Advisor John Bolton walks through security as he arrives for a plea deal hearing at U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on June 26, 2026 in Greenbelt, Maryland. (Al Drago)

By pleading guilty, Bolton waived his right to appeal the sentence and conviction. Chuang said Bolton will be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas before sentencing. That window will close once the sentencing phase concludes. 

Authorities first raided Bolton’s home and office in August of last year. He was indicted in October, originally being charged with both transmission and retention of classified documents.

JOHN BOLTON INDICTED WITH IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

According to the indictment, the documents Bolton illegally kept had intelligence about future attacks by an adversarial group in another country. 

Then-National Security Advisor John R. Bolton listens as then-President Donald J. Trump meets with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House July 18, 2019, in Washington.  (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Prosecutors said the documents also contained information about a liaison partner sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence community, as well as intelligence that a foreign adversary was planning a missile launch in the future.

Many of the documents were labeled «TOP SECRET,» according to prosecutors.

«From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor,» the indictment read.

BOLTON MAY BE IN HOT WATER AS FBI INVESTIGATION EXPANDS BEYOND CONTROVERSIAL BOOK

FBI agents raid the Bethesda, Maryland, home of John Bolton on August 22, 2025. (Andrew Harnik)

«BOLTON also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland,» it continued.

Bolton shared this information with two family members through his personal email account, according to prosecutors.

That email account, per court records, was hacked by someone believed to be associated with Iran after Bolton left office.

Since Bolton’s departure, him and Trump have been bitter enemies, with the two men frequently attacking each other over foreign policy disagreements.

Copies of the new book ‘The Room Where It Happened’ by John Bolton are displayed at Book Passage on June 23, 2020 in Corte Madera, California. (Justin Sullivan)

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At the time, Trump said he fired Bolton, but Bolton claimed he resigned of his own accord.

Bolton published a memoir in 2020 titled «The Room Where It Happened,» which characterized Trump as an erratic and irrational leader.

The Trump administration sued to block the book’s release, claiming it contained national security secrets that were classified. A federal judge allowed the book to hit shelves, and Bolton was never prosecuted for anything that was included in it.

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