🔗 Share this article

Tehran is willing to reinitiate nuclear negotiations with Washington provided that it is handled with "dignity" and "honor", Tehran's foreign minister has stated.

Abbas Araghchi said exclusively dialogue was effective, and disclosed recent overtures had come from go-betweens to restart negotiations with the American leadership. He asserted Iran had zero undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran could not yet permit the International Atomic Energy Agency to access struck enrichment centers for security reasons.

Navigating a Difficult Path

The foreign minister is navigating a difficult route since Iran wishes not to appear to be proceeding from a position of weakness, and he emphatically stated that Iran had arisen more powerful in military terms and psychologically from the Israeli-US attack on its nuclear sites in June.

He was speaking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to process nuclear material on home soil that it will always maintain" – the main reason of the deadlock in the previous talks.

Earlier Talks Suddenly Ended

The earlier sessions of negotiations between the United States and Iran were ended suddenly and bitter conclusion on 12 June when the Israeli government, with US support, attacked Tehran's atomic facilities in a 12-day war that culminated with Donald Trump claiming the locations had been obliterated. Afterward, European countries exercised their privilege to restore global restrictions, but Iran insists they have not had a major impact.

Ideal Resolution Proposed

Iran's diplomats said they felt they had achieved a "perfect agreement" to the uranium processing matter in prior discussions, when it was settled an Iran-based consortium with US participation could enrich uranium. Both sides would have been able to declare success since local refinement would have remained and the US could be confident that Iran's atomic project was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been settled in the negotiations that Washington's technical specialists could operate on Iranian soil, but that was a natural consequence of the cooperative offer. Diplomats stated three times they had reached agreement with Washington's diplomat Steve Witkoff only for the deal to collapse due to "spoilers in Washington".

Current Position

Tehran representatives declared the cooperative arrangement was now withdrawn, but it seems very probable the suggestion could be revived in some form if talks reopen.

Trump in recent days stated he had been obtaining communications that Iran desired to reopen negotiations, but in private Iran's diplomats state they are not yet receiving coherent offers from the United States either straightforwardly or from key regional mediators, such as Qatar, Egypt, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of passivity in the aftermath of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Tehran asserts negotiations is not part of a show.

Political Position

In his speech to the gathering, designed to portray the US as a controlling nation that exploits the notion of worldwide standards, the foreign minister said the two-week conflict demonstrated the clash could not be ended by combat operations. He asserted the strikes commenced with a Washington's ultimatum for an total Iran submission and concluded with an complete request for a ceasefire.

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

Dialogue Stays the Primary Solution

Araghchi declared: "It was not Iran that had abandoned diplomacy; it was America and the Western nations that had consistently tried to impose their demands during the discussions. Diplomacy can still be viable and continues the final answer to address disputes, but its standards, rules and principles must be followed."

"Provided that they address to the nation of Iran with the approach of respect and respect, they will obtain a answer in the identical language."

Repair and Recovery

In what is described by Tehran representatives as the battle of repair and recovery, Araghchi claimed he was certain Iran's defence capabilities "are much stronger than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been rebuilt. We gained many lessons from this war; we have discovered our internal vulnerabilities and the weaknesses of the opponent."

He added: "We successfully passed this engagement. Our enrichment knowledge, which they intended to eliminate, stays intact. The facilities and machinery, if destroyed, will be restored; what is important is the resolve of the citizens of Tehran and then the social solidarity that they sought to undermine, but did not succeed to break. The Iranian people have developed more resilient, more cohesive, and more endorsing of the leadership and the country in the aftermath of this assault."