🔗 Share this article

Iran is willing to reinitiate nuclear negotiations with the United States as long as it is handled with "respect" and "honor", Tehran's top diplomat has announced.

Abbas Araghchi stated solely negotiations produced results, and disclosed recent overtures had been made by intermediaries to restart negotiations with the American leadership. He asserted Iran had zero undeclared nuclear sites, and Iran could not yet allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to inspect struck enrichment centers for safety concerns.

Navigating a Challenging Route

The foreign minister is walking a challenging course since Iran wishes not to be perceived to be proceeding from a position of disadvantage, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had arisen stronger defensively and mentally from the Israeli-US attack on its enrichment centers in June.

He was talking at a security conference in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "an inalienable right to process nuclear material domestically that it will always maintain" – the primary cause of the impasse in the earlier negotiations.

Prior Negotiations Abruptly Ended

The prior phases of discussions between the US and Iran were ended suddenly and bitter conclusion on 12 June when the Israeli government, with US support, targeted Iran's enrichment centers in a fortnight-long engagement that culminated with the US president claiming the sites had been destroyed. Following this, European countries employed their right to reimpose UN-wide sanctions, but Iran insists they have not had a major impact.

Perfect Agreement Proposed

Iran's diplomats claimed they felt they had reached a "ideal resolution" to the uranium processing matter in prior discussions, when it was settled an domestic cooperative with American involvement could process nuclear material. Each party would have been able to declare success since home-based processing would have persisted and the US could be confident that Iran's enrichment initiative was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been decided in the negotiations that US nuclear scientists could operate inside Iran, but that was a reasonable assumption of the consortium proposal. Representatives stated on multiple occasions they had achieved a deal with Trump's special envoy the American negotiator only for the agreement to fall apart due to "detractors in America".

Existing Situation

Iranian officials stated the partnership proposal was now no longer available, but it seems very probable the suggestion could be resurrected in some form if talks resume.

Trump last week stated he had been getting signals that Iran wanted to reopen negotiations, but in private Iranian officials state they are not yet getting clear proposals from America either straightforwardly or from significant local go-betweens, such as Qatar, Egypt, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Tehran's diplomatic corps has been accused of inactivity in the aftermath of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran asserts dialogue is not part of a show.

Political Position

In his speech to the conference, aimed to portray the US as a hegemonic power that abuses the idea of worldwide standards, the foreign minister stated the 12-day war demonstrated the dispute could not be settled by armed force. He stated the attacks started with a Washington's ultimatum for an total Iran submission and concluded with an complete request for a halt to hostilities.

Iran is convinced the first strikes by Israel were executed with full US knowledge and cooperation, making trust hard to restore.

Dialogue Continues the Ultimate Resolution

The foreign minister said: "Tehran was not the one that had abandoned dialogue; it was America and the Western nations that had consistently sought to impose their desires during the talks. Dialogue can still be active and remains the primary answer to address disagreements, but its standards, rules and fundamentals must be respected."

"In case they talk to the Iranian people with the tone of respect and respect, they will get a answer in the equivalent tone."

Restoration and Rebuilding

In what is characterized by Tehran representatives as the conflict of restoration and rebuilding, Araghchi said he was confident Iran's security strengths "are considerably enhanced than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been restored. We gained many lessons from this conflict; we have come to know our own weaknesses and the vulnerabilities of the adversary."

He continued: "We managed to survive this engagement. Our nuclear technology, which they intended to eliminate, remains in place. The facilities and gear, if damaged, will be reconstructed; what is crucial is the resolve of the nation of Iran and then the national cohesion that they targeted, but did not succeed to shatter. The citizens of Tehran have become stronger, more united, and more backing of the government and the nation in the face of this attack."