🔗 Share this article

Iran is willing to resume nuclear negotiations with Washington on condition that it is treated with "respect" and "honor", Tehran's foreign minister has declared.

The Iranian diplomat said only diplomacy worked, and revealed new appeals had been made by mediators to resume discussions with the US government. He asserted Iran possessed no undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran had not yet reached a point to authorize the global atomic watchdog to access attacked atomic facilities for security reasons.

Walking a Complex Course

The foreign minister is treading a difficult route since Iran wishes not to appear to be proceeding from a stance of vulnerability, and he emphatically stated that Iran had come out more powerful defensively and mentally from the coordinated strike on its nuclear sites in June.

He was speaking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to enrich uranium domestically that it will never give up" – the main reason of the impasse in the prior discussions.

Previous Talks Abruptly Terminated

The earlier sessions of discussions between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and acrimonious conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, struck Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war that ended with Donald Trump declaring the sites had been eliminated. Afterward, Western states exercised their authority to reinstate global restrictions, but Iran insists they have not had a substantial consequence.

Ideal Resolution Suggested

Tehran representatives claimed they felt they had reached a "perfect agreement" to the enrichment issue in previous talks, when it was settled an local partnership with Washington's engagement could refine atomic fuel. Both sides would have been able to declare success since local refinement would have continued and the US could be assured that Iran's nuclear programme was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been decided in the negotiations that Washington's technical specialists could operate inside Iran, but that was a logical implication of the cooperative offer. Officials stated repeatedly they had reached agreement with Washington's diplomat the American negotiator only for the arrangement to fall apart due to "opponents in the US".

Present Situation

Tehran representatives said the cooperative arrangement was now off the table, but it seems quite possible the offer could be reintroduced in various formats if talks resume.

The American leader recently claimed he had been receiving messages that Iran wanted to restart talks, but privately Tehran representatives claim they are not yet getting clear proposals from Washington either straightforwardly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Iranian foreign ministry has been accused of non-responsiveness in the face of the US president's straightforward manner, but Tehran asserts negotiations is not part of a spectacle.

Diplomatic Position

In his speech to the conference, designed to paint the US as a hegemonic power that misuses the notion of global regulations, the foreign minister stated the 12-day war demonstrated the conflict could not be resolved by military means. He stated the strikes began with a US demand for an unconditional Iranian surrender and ended with an unconditional call for a truce.

Iran is assured the first strikes by Israel were carried out with full US knowledge and coordination, making confidence hard to rebuild.

Negotiations Stays the Ultimate Answer

Araghchi stated: "It was not Iran that had fled negotiations; it was the United States and the Western nations that had repeatedly attempted to enforce their demands during the talks. Negotiations can still be alive and stays the ultimate answer to address disagreements, but its requirements, rules and tenets must be adhered to."

"If they speak to the Iranian people with the approach of respect and respect, they will obtain a response in the identical approach."

Repair and Rebuilding

In what is portrayed by Iran's diplomats as the conflict of repair and rebuilding, the foreign minister said he was confident Iran's security strengths "are much stronger than before 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been rebuilt. We acquired multiple understandings from this engagement; we have identified our personal limitations and the weaknesses of the opponent."

He continued: "We managed to survive this war. Our nuclear technology, which they intended to destroy, continues to exist. The facilities and gear, if damaged, will be restored; what is crucial is the will of the Iranian people and then the social solidarity that they sought to undermine, but were unable to destroy. The Iranian people have grown more powerful, more integrated, and more backing of the government and the country in the aftermath of this invasion."