🔗 Share this article

Tehran is ready to restart atomic discussions with Washington on condition that it is treated with "dignity" and "respect", Iran's top diplomat has declared.

Abbas Araghchi said only diplomacy worked, and revealed new appeals had come from intermediaries to resume negotiations with the American leadership. He claimed Iran possessed no secret atomic facilities, and Tehran had not yet reached a point to allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to access struck enrichment centers for security reasons.

Navigating a Difficult Course

Araghchi is walking a challenging route since Iran does not want be seen to be proceeding from a situation of weakness, and he consistently maintained that Iran had arisen more powerful defensively and psychologically from the joint assault on its nuclear sites in June.

He was speaking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an inalienable right to process nuclear material within its borders that it will perpetually retain" – the main reason of the stalemate in the earlier negotiations.

Prior Discussions Suddenly Concluded

The previous five rounds of talks between the US and Iran were ended suddenly and acrimonious conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, attacked Iran's enrichment centers in a 12-day war that concluded with the American leader claiming the sites had been destroyed. Following this, European countries used their authority to reinstate international penalties, but Iran asserts they have not had a major impact.

Magic Solution Proposed

Iran's diplomats stated they felt they had attained a "magic solution" to the enrichment issue in prior discussions, when it was agreed an Iran-based consortium with American involvement could process nuclear material. Both sides would have been able to claim victory since domestic enrichment would have remained and the US could be assured that Iran's atomic project was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been agreed in the talks that American atomic experts could work on Iranian soil, but that was a logical implication of the cooperative offer. Diplomats claimed repeatedly they had reached agreement with the US representative the American negotiator only for the agreement to disintegrate due to "spoilers in Washington".

Present Situation

Iranian officials said the consortium offer was now off the table, but it seems very probable the proposal could be reintroduced in certain ways if talks reopen.

The US president recently said he had been getting signals that Iran sought to resume discussions, but in private Tehran representatives state they are not yet getting clear proposals from Washington either straightforwardly or from significant local go-betweens, such as Qatar, Egypt, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Tehran's diplomatic corps has been charged of non-responsiveness in the wake of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Tehran asserts diplomacy is not part of a show.

Negotiating Standpoint

In his remarks to the conference, intended to paint the US as a dominant force that exploits the concept of international law, the foreign minister stated the fortnight-long engagement revealed the conflict could not be settled by military means. He asserted the assaults commenced with a US demand for an complete Tehran capitulation and concluded with an unconditional call for a halt to hostilities.

Iran is convinced the opening assaults from Tel Aviv were carried out with complete American awareness and cooperation, making trust challenging to restore.

Negotiations Remains the Final Resolution

Araghchi declared: "Tehran was not the one that had deserted dialogue; it was America and the Western nations that had always tried to dictate their demands during the discussions. Negotiations can still be alive and stays the primary solution to settle disputes, but its standards, regulations and tenets must be adhered to."

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

Recovery and Rebuilding

In what is described by Iran's diplomats as the conflict of repair and recovery, Araghchi claimed he was confident Iran's military capacities "are much stronger than before 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been restored. We acquired numerous insights from this war; we have discovered our own weaknesses and the weaknesses of the enemy."

He stated: "We managed to survive this conflict. Our nuclear technology, which they planned to destroy, remains in place. The facilities and equipment, if eliminated, will be restored; what is crucial is the will of the Iranian people and then the unity of the country that they sought to undermine, but did not succeed to shatter. The citizens of Tehran have become more powerful, more cohesive, and more supportive of the government and the nation in the wake of this assault."