🔗 Share this article

Tehran is willing to restart nuclear discussions with the United States on condition that it is treated with "respect" and "honor", Tehran's top diplomat has announced.

The Iranian diplomat said solely negotiations worked, and shared fresh requests had come from go-betweens to reopen negotiations with the Trump administration. He said Iran did not have unreported enrichment locations, and Iran was not yet able to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to access bombed nuclear sites for security reasons.

Navigating a Difficult Route

The foreign minister is treading a complex route since Iran aims to avoid be perceived to be operating from a situation of vulnerability, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had emerged stronger militarily and emotionally from the joint assault on its atomic facilities in June.

He was talking at a defense forum in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to refine atomic fuel domestically that it will never give up" – the key factor of the deadlock in the previous talks.

Prior Negotiations Abruptly Terminated

The prior phases of talks between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and acrimonious end on 12 June when Israel, with Washington's assistance, attacked Tehran's atomic facilities in a fortnight-long engagement that culminated with the American leader declaring the facilities had been destroyed. Afterward, EU nations used their privilege to reimpose UN-wide sanctions, but Iran insists they have not had a substantial consequence.

Ideal Resolution Suggested

Iran's diplomats said they felt they had attained a "perfect agreement" to the nuclear fuel concern in previous talks, when it was agreed an Iran-based consortium with US participation could enrich uranium. Both sides would have been able to assert triumph since local refinement would have persisted and the US could be confident that Iran's nuclear programme was entirely non-military.

It had not been settled in the negotiations that US nuclear scientists could function on Iranian soil, but that was a natural consequence of the cooperative offer. Officials claimed three times they had reached agreement with Washington's diplomat the US official only for the deal to collapse due to "opponents in the US".

Present Position

Iran's diplomats stated the cooperative arrangement was now no longer available, but it seems very probable the offer could be resurrected in some form if discussions reopen.

The American leader in recent days said he had been obtaining communications that Iran desired to resume discussions, but in private Tehran representatives claim they are not yet receiving coherent offers from Washington either straightforwardly or from significant local go-betweens, such as Qatar, Egypt, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Tehran's diplomatic corps has been charged of non-responsiveness in the wake of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Tehran asserts dialogue is not part of a performance.

Diplomatic Standpoint

In his address to the conference, designed to portray the US as a controlling nation that abuses the idea of international law, the foreign minister said the two-week conflict showed the clash could not be resolved by combat operations. He said the assaults started with a American requirement for an complete Tehran capitulation and culminated with an absolute demand for a truce.

Iran is convinced the initial Israeli attacks were carried out with full US knowledge and collaboration, making confidence difficult to reestablish.

Dialogue Remains the Primary Answer

Araghchi stated: "Tehran was not the one that had fled diplomacy; it was the United States and the Western nations that had consistently tried to impose their desires during the discussions. Negotiations can still be alive and remains the ultimate solution to address conflicts, but its requirements, rules and tenets must be adhered to."

"In case they talk to the citizens of Tehran with the tone of dignity and respect, they will receive a answer in the identical language."

Recovery and Reconstruction

In what is characterized by Tehran representatives as the struggle of restoration and reconstruction, Araghchi stated he was certain Iran's defence capabilities "are much stronger than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been rebuilt. We gained numerous insights from this engagement; we have identified our own weaknesses and the vulnerabilities of the enemy."

He stated: "We successfully passed this conflict. Our enrichment knowledge, which they planned to destroy, stays intact. The sites and equipment, if damaged, will be reconstructed; what is crucial is the resolve of the nation of Iran and then the social solidarity that they aimed at, but did not succeed to destroy. The nation of Iran have developed more resilient, more cohesive, and more endorsing of the government and the nation in the face of this assault."