🔗 Share this article

Tehran is willing to restart atomic negotiations with Washington as long as it is handled with "dignity" and "respect", Iran's foreign minister has stated.

Abbas Araghchi said solely negotiations was effective, and revealed new appeals had originated from intermediaries to restart negotiations with the US government. He said Iran had zero secret atomic facilities, and Iran was not yet able to allow the global atomic watchdog to inspect struck enrichment centers for safety concerns.

Walking a Complex Course

The foreign minister is walking a challenging path since Iran does not want be perceived to be acting from a stance of weakness, and he emphatically stated that Iran had arisen more resilient militarily and psychologically from the coordinated strike on its atomic facilities in June.

He was speaking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to enrich uranium on home soil that it will perpetually retain" – the primary cause of the stalemate in the previous talks.

Earlier Negotiations Unexpectedly Terminated

The prior phases of talks between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and bitter end on 12 June when Israel, with US support, attacked Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war that concluded with the US president claiming the facilities had been obliterated. Subsequently, Western states used their privilege to restore international penalties, but Iran insists they have not had a substantial consequence.

Ideal Resolution Offered

Tehran representatives stated they felt they had achieved a "ideal resolution" to the enrichment issue in earlier negotiations, when it was settled an local partnership with US participation could process nuclear material. Both sides would have been able to claim victory since home-based processing would have continued and the US could be certain that Iran's enrichment initiative was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been decided in the discussions that US nuclear scientists could work on Iranian soil, but that was a natural consequence of the consortium proposal. Diplomats claimed repeatedly they had reached agreement with Washington's diplomat the American negotiator only for the arrangement to disintegrate due to "spoilers in Washington".

Present Situation

Iran's diplomats declared the partnership proposal was now no longer available, but it seems very probable the offer could be revived in some form if negotiations restart.

The American leader last week stated he had been getting signals that Iran wanted to resume discussions, but privately Iran's diplomats say they are not yet getting clear proposals from Washington either straightforwardly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been accused of non-responsiveness in the face of the US president's straightforward manner, but Tehran states diplomacy is not part of a spectacle.

Diplomatic Position

In his address to the conference, designed to portray the US as a controlling nation that abuses the notion of global regulations, the foreign minister stated the fortnight-long engagement showed the clash could not be resolved by military means. He stated the strikes started with a US demand for an total Iran submission and culminated with an complete request for a truce.

Iran is convinced the opening assaults from Tel Aviv were mounted with total Washington understanding and coordination, making trust challenging to restore.

Diplomacy Continues the Primary Resolution

Araghchi said: "It was not Iran that had fled diplomacy; it was America and the Western nations that had always attempted to impose their desires during the discussions. Diplomacy can still be viable and continues the ultimate solution to settle disputes, but its criteria, rules and principles must be adhered to."

"In case they talk to the Iranian people with the language of dignity and honor, they will receive a response in the equivalent tone."

Restoration and Recovery

In what is portrayed by Tehran representatives as the battle of recovery and reconstruction, the foreign minister said he was assured Iran's security strengths "are much stronger than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been reestablished. We learned multiple understandings from this war; we have discovered our own weaknesses and the shortcomings of the opponent."

He added: "We successfully passed this engagement. Our enrichment knowledge, which they intended to obliterate, continues to exist. The facilities and equipment, if eliminated, will be restored; what is crucial is the will of the nation of Iran and then the unity of the country that they sought to undermine, but did not succeed to break. The nation of Iran have developed more resilient, more united, and more backing of the administration and the state in the aftermath of this invasion."