🔗 Share this article

Iran is willing to reinitiate nuclear negotiations with the United States provided that it is approached with "dignity" and "honor", Tehran's foreign minister has declared.

Abbas Araghchi stated only diplomacy worked, and disclosed recent overtures had originated from intermediaries to reopen negotiations with the US government. He claimed Iran did not have secret atomic facilities, and Tehran was not yet able to permit the global atomic watchdog to access bombed nuclear sites for safety concerns.

Walking a Challenging Path

The foreign minister is treading a challenging route since Iran does not want be seen to be proceeding from a stance of vulnerability, and he emphatically stated that Iran had emerged stronger defensively and emotionally from the joint assault on its nuclear sites in June.

He was speaking at a security conference in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to refine atomic fuel domestically that it will never give up" – the main reason of the deadlock in the earlier negotiations.

Earlier Talks Unexpectedly Terminated

The previous five rounds of discussions between the United States and Iran were ended suddenly and hostile end on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, targeted Iran's enrichment centers in a two-week conflict that concluded with the US president asserting the locations had been eliminated. Subsequently, European countries employed their privilege to reimpose international penalties, but Iran maintains they have not had a significant effect.

Ideal Resolution Offered

Tehran representatives stated they felt they had attained a "ideal resolution" to the nuclear fuel concern in prior discussions, when it was decided an local partnership with Washington's engagement could process nuclear material. Both sides would have been able to declare success since domestic enrichment would have remained and the US could be certain that Iran's atomic project was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been decided in the talks that American atomic experts could work within Iranian territory, but that was a reasonable assumption of the partnership suggestion. Officials stated three times they had secured an understanding with the US representative Steve Witkoff only for the agreement to fall apart due to "detractors in America".

Current Situation

Tehran representatives said the partnership proposal was now withdrawn, but it seems highly likely the offer could be reintroduced in certain ways if negotiations restart.

The US president in recent days said he had been receiving messages that Iran wanted to resume discussions, but confidentially Tehran representatives say they are not yet obtaining consistent overtures from the United States either explicitly or from key regional mediators, such as the Qatari government, Egypt, the Omani authorities and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of inactivity in the aftermath of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Tehran asserts diplomacy is not part of a spectacle.

Diplomatic Position

In his speech to the gathering, aimed to depict the US as a dominant force that misuses the concept of worldwide standards, Araghchi declared the fortnight-long engagement demonstrated the dispute could not be resolved by armed force. He stated the assaults commenced with a Washington's ultimatum for an total Iran submission and ended with an unconditional call for a truce.

Iran is assured the first strikes by Israel were carried out with complete American awareness and cooperation, making trust difficult to restore.

Diplomacy Remains the Final Resolution

The foreign minister said: "Tehran was not the one that had fled diplomacy; it was America and the Western nations that had consistently attempted to enforce their will during the negotiations. Diplomacy can still be alive and continues the ultimate resolution to address conflicts, but its criteria, guidelines and fundamentals must be respected."

"If they talk to the nation of Iran with the approach of respect and honor, they will receive a answer in the same approach."

Recovery and Reconstruction

In what is portrayed by Tehran representatives as the conflict of restoration and rebuilding, the foreign minister claimed he was confident Iran's defence capabilities "have significantly improved than before 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been reestablished. We acquired many lessons from this conflict; we have come to know our internal vulnerabilities and the shortcomings of the opponent."

He stated: "We successfully passed this engagement. Our enrichment knowledge, which they planned to eliminate, continues to exist. The sites and gear, if destroyed, will be reconstructed; what is essential is the will of the nation of Iran and then the social solidarity that they targeted, but did not succeed to shatter. The Iranian people have grown more powerful, more integrated, and more backing of the administration and the country in the face of this invasion."