🔗 Share this article

Tehran is willing to resume nuclear discussions with the United States provided that it is handled with "respect" and "respect", Iran's foreign minister has announced.

Abbas Araghchi said exclusively dialogue produced results, and shared recent overtures had been made by intermediaries to restart talks with the US government. He asserted Iran did not have undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran could not yet permit the global atomic watchdog to visit struck enrichment centers for security reasons.

Walking a Difficult Path

Araghchi is navigating a complex path since Iran does not want be seen to be proceeding from a stance of vulnerability, and he emphatically stated that Iran had arisen more resilient in military terms and psychologically from the coordinated strike on its atomic facilities in June.

He was talking at a defense forum in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to refine atomic fuel within its borders that it will perpetually retain" – the primary cause of the impasse in the prior discussions.

Previous Negotiations Abruptly Concluded

The previous five rounds of talks between the United States and Iran were ended suddenly and hostile termination on 12 June when the Israeli government, with US support, targeted Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war that ended with the US president asserting the sites had been destroyed. Subsequently, Western states employed their authority to restore UN-wide sanctions, but Iran asserts they have not had a substantial consequence.

Magic Solution Suggested

Iranian officials stated they felt they had reached a "magic solution" to the uranium processing matter in earlier negotiations, when it was settled an local partnership with American involvement could enrich uranium. The two nations would have been able to declare success since local refinement would have remained and the US could be assured that Iran's enrichment initiative was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been agreed in the negotiations that US nuclear scientists could function on Iranian soil, but that was a natural consequence of the consortium proposal. Representatives claimed on multiple occasions they had reached agreement with Trump's special envoy the US official only for the arrangement to fall apart due to "detractors in America".

Current Position

Tehran representatives said the partnership proposal was now no longer available, but it seems very probable the proposal could be resurrected in various formats if discussions restart.

The American leader last week said he had been receiving messages that Iran desired to resume discussions, but in private Iran's diplomats say they are not yet obtaining consistent overtures from America either explicitly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as Qatar, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been accused of passivity in the face of the US president's straightforward manner, but Iran asserts diplomacy is not part of a performance.

Negotiating Standpoint

In his remarks to the forum, aimed to portray the US as a dominant force that misuses the concept of worldwide standards, Araghchi declared the two-week conflict revealed the conflict could not be ended by armed force. He said the assaults began with a Washington's ultimatum for an total Iran submission and culminated with an absolute demand for a halt to hostilities.

Iran is assured the first strikes by Israel were mounted with complete American awareness and collaboration, making trust challenging to reestablish.

Diplomacy Stays the Primary Solution

The foreign minister stated: "It was not Iran that had abandoned negotiations; it was the United States and the western countries that had consistently tried to enforce their will during the talks. Negotiations can still be viable and stays the final answer to address disagreements, but its requirements, regulations and principles must be adhered to."

"If they address to the citizens of Tehran with the approach of respect and respect, they will receive a reply in the identical tone."

Repair and Rebuilding

In what is characterized by Tehran representatives as the struggle of repair and recovery, the foreign minister claimed he was confident Iran's defence capabilities "are much stronger than before 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been rebuilt. We learned many lessons from this engagement; we have come to know our own weaknesses and the shortcomings of the adversary."

He stated: "We successfully passed this engagement. Our enrichment knowledge, which they planned to obliterate, remains in place. The sites and equipment, if damaged, will be restored; what is important is the will of the nation of Iran and then the unity of the country that they targeted, but were unable to shatter. The Iranian people have developed more resilient, more cohesive, and more backing of the leadership and the state in the wake of this assault."