🔗 Share this article

Iran is ready to restart nuclear negotiations with Washington on condition that it is handled with "respect" and "respect", Tehran's top diplomat has stated.

Abbas Araghchi declared solely negotiations was effective, and disclosed fresh requests had come from mediators to resume talks with the American leadership. He claimed Iran had zero secret atomic facilities, and Iran could not yet authorize the UN nuclear inspectorate to access bombed nuclear sites for safety concerns.

Navigating a Difficult Course

Araghchi is walking a difficult route since Iran aims to avoid be perceived to be operating from a position of weakness, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had come out stronger defensively and emotionally from the joint assault on its atomic facilities in June.

He was addressing at a defense forum in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to process nuclear material within its borders that it will never give up" – the primary cause of the stalemate in the earlier negotiations.

Prior Negotiations Suddenly Concluded

The earlier sessions of negotiations between the US and Iran were concluded unexpectedly and hostile end on 12 June when Israel, with US support, struck Tehran's atomic facilities in a two-week conflict that ended with Donald Trump declaring the sites had been destroyed. Subsequently, Western states employed their right to restore UN-wide sanctions, but Iran maintains they have not had a substantial consequence.

Perfect Agreement Suggested

Tehran representatives said they felt they had reached a "magic solution" to the enrichment issue in previous talks, when it was decided an local partnership with US participation could process nuclear material. The two nations would have been able to declare success since home-based processing would have remained and the US could be certain that Iran's atomic project was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been decided in the discussions that Washington's technical specialists could function on Iranian soil, but that was a reasonable assumption of the cooperative offer. Diplomats stated repeatedly they had achieved a deal with Washington's diplomat the American negotiator only for the agreement to fall apart due to "detractors in America".

Current Position

Iranian officials stated the cooperative arrangement was now no longer available, but it seems highly likely the proposal could be revived in some form if negotiations restart.

The American leader recently claimed he had been obtaining communications that Iran desired to restart talks, but privately Tehran representatives state they are not yet obtaining consistent overtures from Washington either directly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and the Saudi kingdom. The Tehran's diplomatic corps has been criticized of passivity in the wake of the US president's straightforward manner, but Tehran asserts dialogue is not part of a performance.

Political Standpoint

In his remarks to the conference, aimed to portray the US as a hegemonic power that abuses the concept of international law, the foreign minister said the fortnight-long engagement demonstrated the clash could not be resolved by combat operations. He said the strikes commenced with a US demand for an complete Tehran capitulation and concluded with an absolute demand for a truce.

Iran is assured the initial Israeli attacks were carried out with total Washington understanding and cooperation, making trust hard to reestablish.

Dialogue Remains the Final Resolution

Araghchi said: "Tehran was not the one that had fled dialogue; it was the United States and the European states that had repeatedly attempted to impose their desires during the negotiations. Dialogue can still be active and stays the final resolution to address disagreements, but its standards, rules and tenets must be respected."

"Provided that they talk to the nation of Iran with the tone of dignity and honor, they will receive a reply in the equivalent approach."

Restoration and Reconstruction

In what is described by Tehran representatives as the battle of recovery and reconstruction, the foreign minister stated he was certain Iran's security strengths "have significantly improved than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been rebuilt. We acquired many lessons from this engagement; we have identified our internal vulnerabilities and the vulnerabilities of the enemy."

He stated: "We successfully passed this conflict. Our nuclear technology, which they aimed to eliminate, continues to exist. The installations and machinery, if damaged, will be restored; what is essential is the will of the nation of Iran and then the unity of the country that they targeted, but failed to break. The citizens of Tehran have become more resilient, more united, and more supportive of the administration and the state in the aftermath of this assault."