A dispute over nuclear inspections is emerging as one of the first major tests of the interim arrangement between the United States and Iran, with the UN nuclear watchdog and Iranian officials giving sharply different accounts of when inspectors will be able to visit enrichment sites.

Associated Press reported on Wednesday that International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Iranian enrichment sites would be visited by agency inspectors as part of the interim framework. Iranian officials, however, have said inspections should wait until a final agreement is reached and sanctions relief is secured.

The difference matters because verification is central to any durable nuclear settlement. Without timely IAEA access, outside governments and markets will have little independent basis for judging whether Iran's nuclear activity is being constrained. But Tehran's position suggests it may see inspections as leverage in a wider negotiation rather than as an immediate obligation.