Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at how the Persian Gulf views the U.S.-Iran interim peace deal, a deadly heat wave across Western Europe, and 10 years post-Brexit.

Top U.S. and Iranian officials flew across the Middle East on Tuesday to rally support for the two countries’ tenuous 60-day cease-fire deal. But conflicting accounts of some of the agreement’s most controversial points are likely to complicate efforts to convince regional allies that both parties are committed to long-term peace, even as Washington and Tehran try to negotiate a final deal.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at how the Persian Gulf views the U.S.-Iran interim peace deal, a deadly heat wave across Western Europe, and 10 years post-Brexit.

Top U.S. and Iranian officials flew across the Middle East on Tuesday to rally support for the two countries’ tenuous 60-day cease-fire deal. But conflicting accounts of some of the agreement’s most controversial points are likely to complicate efforts to convince regional allies that both parties are committed to long-term peace, even as Washington and Tehran try to negotiate a final deal.

Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday that Tehran had no plans to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to access the country’s most sensitive nuclear sites, including those hit by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in June 2025. Yet just hours later, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that “Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!).” Trump separately told reporters that if Iran’s assertions about inspections were true, then he’d “cancel the meetings right now.”

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi similarly told Japanese broadcaster NHK on Tuesday that inspections would commence, though he did not give a start date or specify how the agency would access destroyed sites.

These competing claims are expected to exacerbate regional concerns that the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding signed last week does not effectively curb Tehran’s nuclear and military capabilities. Although Qatar and Oman appear to support the agreement, several Persian Gulf powers—namely, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain—are reportedly worried........

© Foreign Policy