Tehran States It Might Return to US Atomic Talks if Approached with 'Dignity' and 'Honor'

Iran is prepared to resume nuclear talks with Washington on condition that it is handled with "dignity" and "honor", Tehran's foreign minister has announced.

Abbas Araghchi said solely negotiations worked, and revealed recent overtures had been made by go-betweens to restart discussions with the Trump administration. He asserted Iran possessed no unreported enrichment locations, and Iran was not yet able to permit the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect attacked atomic facilities for protective measures.

Navigating a Challenging Route

Araghchi is treading a difficult path since Iran aims to avoid be perceived to be operating from a situation of weakness, and he consistently maintained that Iran had come out more powerful in military terms and psychologically from the coordinated strike on its enrichment centers in June.

He was talking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to refine atomic fuel within its borders that it will always maintain" – the main reason of the impasse in the prior discussions.

Earlier Negotiations Unexpectedly Ended

The previous five rounds of discussions between the US and Iran were concluded unexpectedly and acrimonious conclusion on 12 June when the Israeli government, with American backing, attacked Iranian nuclear sites in a two-week conflict that culminated with Donald Trump asserting the sites had been obliterated. Following this, Western states exercised their authority to reimpose UN-wide sanctions, but Iran asserts they have not had a significant effect.

Ideal Resolution Offered

Iran's diplomats claimed they felt they had attained a "ideal resolution" to the uranium processing matter in earlier negotiations, when it was decided an domestic cooperative with Washington's engagement could process nuclear material. Each party would have been able to assert triumph since home-based processing would have remained and the US could be confident that Iran's atomic project was entirely non-military.

It had not been settled in the discussions that US nuclear scientists could operate inside Iran, but that was a logical implication of the cooperative offer. Diplomats asserted three times they had secured an understanding with Washington's diplomat the US official only for the arrangement to disintegrate due to "opponents in the US".

Present Position

Tehran representatives said the cooperative arrangement was now no longer available, but it seems quite possible the offer could be resurrected in various formats if negotiations restart.

The US president in recent days stated he had been receiving messages that Iran desired to resume discussions, but privately Iran's diplomats say they are not yet obtaining consistent overtures from the United States either directly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, Egypt, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been accused of passivity in the aftermath of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Iran says dialogue is not part of a performance.

Diplomatic Standpoint

In his speech to the conference, aimed to portray the US as a hegemonic power that abuses the notion of worldwide standards, the foreign minister said the two-week conflict revealed the conflict could not be settled by combat operations. He said the strikes commenced with a American requirement for an unconditional Iranian surrender and ended with an unconditional call for a truce.

Iran is certain the first strikes by Israel were mounted with complete American awareness and coordination, making trust hard to restore.

Diplomacy Continues the Final Resolution

Araghchi said: "It was not Iran that had fled negotiations; it was the United States and the western countries that had consistently attempted to impose their demands during the talks. Diplomacy can still be alive and continues the ultimate answer to address disagreements, but its standards, rules and principles must be followed."

"If they talk to the Iranian people with the tone of dignity and respect, they will get a answer in the identical language."

Recovery and Reconstruction

In what is described by Iranian officials as the battle of recovery and reconstruction, Araghchi said he was confident Iran's military capacities "are considerably enhanced than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been reestablished. We learned multiple understandings from this conflict; we have discovered our personal limitations and the weaknesses of the opponent."

He stated: "We effectively endured this war. Our atomic expertise, which they planned to eliminate, remains in place. The facilities and gear, if eliminated, will be rebuilt; what is crucial is the determination of the citizens of Tehran and then the social solidarity that they sought to undermine, but were unable to shatter. The nation of Iran have grown more resilient, more cohesive, and more backing of the leadership and the country in the face of this invasion."