🔗 Share this article

Tehran is willing to reinitiate atomic negotiations with Washington as long as it is approached with "dignity" and "honor", Tehran's foreign minister has announced.

Abbas Araghchi stated only diplomacy worked, and revealed new appeals had come from intermediaries to restart discussions with the US government. He asserted Iran did not have undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran could not yet authorize the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect attacked atomic facilities for safety concerns.

Walking a Difficult Path

The foreign minister is treading a complex course since Iran wishes not to be perceived to be acting from a situation of weakness, and he emphatically stated that Iran had arisen more resilient militarily and psychologically from the Israeli-US attack on its nuclear sites in June.

He was addressing at a security conference in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to process nuclear material domestically that it will perpetually retain" – the primary cause of the stalemate in the prior discussions.

Earlier Talks Abruptly Terminated

The previous five rounds of talks between the United States and Iran were ended suddenly and acrimonious termination on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, targeted Iranian nuclear sites in a fortnight-long engagement that culminated with the US president declaring the locations had been eliminated. Subsequently, European countries employed their right to reimpose global restrictions, but Iran asserts they have not had a major impact.

Ideal Resolution Suggested

Iran's diplomats said they felt they had reached a "ideal resolution" to the nuclear fuel concern in previous talks, when it was settled an Iran-based consortium with American involvement could enrich uranium. Both sides would have been able to assert triumph since local refinement would have remained and the US could be certain that Iran's nuclear programme was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been settled in the discussions that American atomic experts could operate on Iranian soil, but that was a reasonable assumption of the cooperative offer. Officials stated three times they had reached agreement with the US representative the American negotiator only for the arrangement to fall apart due to "spoilers in Washington".

Present Position

Iran's diplomats stated the consortium offer was now no longer available, but it seems highly likely the proposal could be resurrected in certain ways if discussions restart.

The American leader in recent days said he had been obtaining communications that Iran wanted to restart talks, but in private Iranian officials state they are not yet getting consistent overtures from the United States either straightforwardly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been criticized of passivity in the wake of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Tehran says dialogue is not part of a spectacle.

Political Stance

In his address to the gathering, aimed to paint the US as a hegemonic power that exploits the notion of international law, the foreign minister stated the 12-day war revealed the dispute could not be resolved by combat operations. He stated the strikes began with a Washington's ultimatum for an total Iran submission and ended with an complete request for a ceasefire.

Iran is convinced the opening assaults from Tel Aviv were executed with full US knowledge and collaboration, making confidence hard to reestablish.

Diplomacy Remains the Primary Resolution

The foreign minister stated: "Tehran was not the one that had abandoned negotiations; it was the United States and the European states that had consistently sought to impose their will during the discussions. Dialogue can still be alive and continues the primary answer to resolve disagreements, but its criteria, guidelines and fundamentals must be adhered to."

"If they speak to the nation of Iran with the language of dignity and honor, they will receive a reply in the same approach."

Recovery and Recovery

In what is described by Tehran representatives as the conflict of repair and recovery, the foreign minister claimed he was certain Iran's defence capabilities "have significantly improved than before 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been restored. We acquired multiple understandings from this engagement; we have come to know our internal vulnerabilities and the shortcomings of the opponent."

He added: "We managed to survive this conflict. Our enrichment knowledge, which they aimed to destroy, remains in place. The sites and equipment, if eliminated, will be reconstructed; what is important is the will of the Iranian people and then the unity of the country that they aimed at, but did not succeed to destroy. The citizens of Tehran have become more powerful, more cohesive, and more supportive of the administration and the state in the aftermath of this assault."