🔗 Share this article

Tehran is prepared to restart nuclear negotiations with the United States as long as it is approached with "respect" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has declared.

Abbas Araghchi said exclusively dialogue worked, and disclosed new appeals had been made by intermediaries to reopen negotiations with the Trump administration. He said Iran did not have unreported enrichment locations, and Iran could not yet authorize the global atomic watchdog to inspect struck enrichment centers for protective measures.

Navigating a Challenging Course

Araghchi is navigating a complex course since Iran wishes not to appear to be operating from a position of vulnerability, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had come out more powerful defensively and mentally from the Israeli-US attack on its nuclear sites in June.

He was talking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "an inalienable right to process nuclear material within its borders that it will perpetually retain" – the primary cause of the impasse in the previous talks.

Earlier Negotiations Abruptly Ended

The previous five rounds of negotiations between the US and Iran were ended suddenly and acrimonious termination on 12 June when Israel, with Washington's assistance, attacked Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war that ended with the US president declaring the facilities had been destroyed. Subsequently, European countries used their authority to reinstate international penalties, but Iran insists they have not had a major impact.

Perfect Agreement Suggested

Tehran representatives stated they felt they had attained a "perfect agreement" to the uranium processing matter in previous talks, when it was decided an local partnership with US participation could refine atomic fuel. Each party would have been able to assert triumph since local refinement would have remained and the US could be assured that Iran's atomic project was entirely non-military.

It had not been agreed in the discussions that Washington's technical specialists could operate within Iranian territory, but that was a reasonable assumption of the consortium proposal. Officials claimed on multiple occasions they had achieved a deal with the US representative the American negotiator only for the agreement to disintegrate due to "opponents in the US".

Existing Situation

Tehran representatives said the partnership proposal was now no longer available, but it seems highly likely the suggestion could be resurrected in certain ways if talks resume.

The American leader in recent days said he had been receiving messages that Iran wanted to restart talks, but privately Iran's diplomats say they are not yet getting coherent offers from America either explicitly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and Saudi Arabia. The Tehran's diplomatic corps has been charged of inactivity in the aftermath of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran states diplomacy is not part of a show.

Political Standpoint

In his speech to the conference, intended to depict the US as a controlling nation that abuses the concept of worldwide standards, Araghchi stated the fortnight-long engagement showed the dispute could not be resolved by armed force. He stated the attacks began with a US demand for an complete Tehran capitulation and concluded with an unconditional call for a ceasefire.

Iran is assured the opening assaults from Tel Aviv were executed with total Washington understanding and cooperation, making trust difficult to rebuild.

Diplomacy Continues the Ultimate Solution

The foreign minister declared: "Tehran was not the one that had fled diplomacy; it was America and the Western nations that had repeatedly attempted to dictate their desires during the negotiations. Negotiations can still be alive and continues the ultimate resolution to resolve conflicts, but its criteria, regulations and tenets must be adhered to."

"Provided that they address to the nation of Iran with the approach of dignity and respect, they will obtain a reply in the equivalent tone."

Repair and Reconstruction

In what is portrayed by Iranian officials as the battle of restoration and reconstruction, Araghchi claimed he was confident Iran's defence capabilities "are much stronger than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been rebuilt. We acquired multiple understandings from this engagement; we have come to know our personal limitations and the weaknesses of the adversary."

He added: "We effectively endured this war. Our atomic expertise, which they intended to eliminate, stays intact. The facilities and machinery, if destroyed, will be rebuilt; what is crucial is the resolve of the nation of Iran and then the national cohesion that they sought to undermine, but failed to shatter. The nation of Iran have become more resilient, more integrated, and more supportive of the leadership and the state in the aftermath of this assault."