Talks between the U.S. and Iran have made “great progress” despite “threatening” and “whining,” U.S Vice President JD Vance has said.

Axar.az reports, citing CNBC, speaking on Monday, Vance said the talks in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, were continuing and Tehran had agreed to permit International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into Iran. The talks were strained over the weekend when Iran announced it had closed the Strait of Hormuz over Israeli strikes on Lebanon, saying these violated the ceasefire.

“Yes, there was a little bit of threatening, there was a little bit of whining, but at the end of the day, the talks continued, and we made great progress,” Vance told reporters.

Vance said Iran’s agreement for IAEA inspectors to return to their country was “a major milestone for the American people, and the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran.”

Looking ahead, Vance said a process is now in place to ensure that escalation in the region can be avoided.

“We want a regional ceasefire. We want Hezbollah to stop firing at our friends in Israel. We want Israelis to be able to live in peace. We also want to make sure that, when things happen, they don’t spiral into a broader escalation, and so we’ve been, I think, very good at setting up what we’re calling a deconfliction mechanism,” he added.