🔗 Share this article

Tehran is willing to restart atomic negotiations with the United States on condition that it is approached with "respect" and "honor", Tehran's top diplomat has declared.

The Iranian diplomat said only diplomacy was effective, and disclosed new appeals had been made by mediators to restart negotiations with the Trump administration. He asserted Iran possessed no undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran was not yet able to permit the UN nuclear inspectorate to visit bombed nuclear sites for security reasons.

Walking a Complex Route

Araghchi is walking a complex path since Iran wishes not to be perceived to be proceeding from a position of disadvantage, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had emerged more powerful defensively and emotionally from the joint assault on its enrichment centers in June.

He was talking at a security conference in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to refine atomic fuel within its borders that it will never give up" – the main reason of the impasse in the earlier negotiations.

Prior Negotiations Suddenly Ended

The previous five rounds of discussions between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and bitter conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, struck Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war that concluded with the US president declaring the locations had been destroyed. Afterward, European countries used their authority to reimpose global restrictions, but Iran insists they have not had a major impact.

Ideal Resolution Offered

Iran's diplomats claimed they felt they had achieved a "magic solution" to the nuclear fuel concern in earlier negotiations, when it was agreed an domestic cooperative with Washington's engagement could process nuclear material. Both sides would have been able to declare success since home-based processing would have continued and the US could be confident that Iran's atomic project was entirely non-military.

It had not been agreed in the discussions that Washington's technical specialists could work inside Iran, but that was a reasonable assumption of the cooperative offer. Diplomats claimed three times they had secured an understanding with Trump's special envoy the American negotiator only for the arrangement to fall apart due to "spoilers in Washington".

Existing Status

Tehran representatives said the consortium offer was now no longer available, but it seems highly likely the proposal could be reintroduced in some form if talks restart.

The US president in recent days claimed he had been getting signals that Iran wanted to resume discussions, but confidentially Iranian officials state they are not yet receiving consistent overtures from America either directly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iran's state department has been criticized of inactivity in the aftermath of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Tehran asserts negotiations is not part of a spectacle.

Negotiating Standpoint

In his speech to the gathering, aimed to depict the US as a hegemonic power that misuses the idea of international law, Araghchi said the fortnight-long engagement revealed the dispute could not be resolved by military means. He asserted the strikes started with a US demand for an complete Tehran capitulation and culminated with an absolute demand for a truce.

Iran is convinced the initial Israeli attacks were carried out with full US knowledge and collaboration, making confidence hard to rebuild.

Negotiations Remains the Ultimate Solution

The foreign minister said: "Tehran was not the one that had abandoned negotiations; it was the United States and the western countries that had repeatedly tried to dictate their demands during the negotiations. Negotiations can still be alive and continues the ultimate resolution to address disagreements, but its criteria, regulations and principles must be respected."

"In case they talk to the Iranian people with the tone of respect and honor, they will obtain a response in the identical language."

Restoration and Rebuilding

In what is portrayed by Iran's diplomats as the conflict of recovery and reconstruction, the foreign minister claimed he was certain Iran's military capacities "are much stronger than before 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been reestablished. We learned numerous insights from this engagement; we have identified our personal limitations and the weaknesses of the adversary."

He stated: "We effectively endured this conflict. Our enrichment knowledge, which they intended to eliminate, stays intact. The installations and equipment, if destroyed, will be restored; what is crucial is the will of the nation of Iran and then the social solidarity that they aimed at, but were unable to shatter. The nation of Iran have grown stronger, more cohesive, and more backing of the government and the state in the face of this attack."