🔗 Share this article

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

The Iranian diplomat declared solely negotiations produced results, and shared fresh requests had been made by go-betweens to reopen negotiations with the US government. He asserted Iran had zero undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran could not yet authorize the UN nuclear inspectorate to access struck enrichment centers for safety concerns.

Navigating a Challenging Course

Araghchi is navigating a complex course since Iran wishes not to be perceived to be operating from a stance of vulnerability, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had arisen more resilient in military terms and mentally from the coordinated strike on its nuclear sites in June.

He was speaking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "an inalienable right to refine atomic fuel on home soil that it will always maintain" – the primary cause of the stalemate in the prior discussions.

Prior Talks Suddenly Ended

The earlier sessions of talks between the US and Iran were concluded unexpectedly and hostile end on 12 June when the Israeli government, with US support, struck Iranian nuclear sites in a two-week conflict that concluded with Donald Trump asserting the sites had been eliminated. Afterward, EU nations exercised their right to restore global restrictions, but Iran asserts they have not had a major impact.

Perfect Agreement Offered

Tehran representatives said they felt they had reached a "perfect agreement" to the nuclear fuel concern in prior discussions, when it was decided an domestic cooperative with US participation could refine atomic fuel. Both sides would have been able to declare success since home-based processing would have persisted and the US could be confident that Iran's atomic project was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been settled in the talks that Washington's technical specialists could work inside Iran, but that was a reasonable assumption of the consortium proposal. Officials claimed on multiple occasions they had achieved a deal with the US representative the US official only for the deal to disintegrate due to "detractors in America".

Current Situation

Tehran representatives stated the cooperative arrangement was now off the table, but it seems quite possible the proposal could be revived in certain ways if talks reopen.

The US president last week claimed he had been getting signals that Iran wanted to resume discussions, but in private Iran's diplomats claim they are not yet getting consistent overtures from the United States either explicitly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as Qatar, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and the Saudi kingdom. The Iranian foreign ministry has been accused of inactivity in the aftermath of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Tehran says dialogue is not part of a performance.

Diplomatic Position

In his speech to the conference, aimed to paint the US as a hegemonic power that exploits the idea of international law, the foreign minister said the fortnight-long engagement showed the dispute could not be ended by military means. He asserted the assaults commenced with a US demand for an unconditional Iranian surrender and concluded with an absolute demand for a ceasefire.

Iran is assured the initial Israeli attacks were carried out with full US knowledge and cooperation, making trust challenging to restore.

Negotiations Remains the Ultimate Answer

Araghchi said: "It was not Iran that had fled negotiations; it was the United States and the European states that had repeatedly tried to dictate their demands during the discussions. Negotiations can still be viable and continues the primary answer to address disputes, but its standards, rules and fundamentals must be respected."

"In case they speak to the citizens of Tehran with the language of dignity and respect, they will get a response in the same language."

Restoration and Reconstruction

In what is portrayed by Iran's diplomats as the battle of restoration and recovery, the foreign minister said he was confident Iran's military capacities "have significantly improved than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been reestablished. We acquired many lessons from this war; we have discovered our own weaknesses and the shortcomings of the enemy."

He continued: "We successfully passed this war. Our atomic expertise, which they planned to destroy, remains in place. The sites and equipment, if eliminated, will be rebuilt; what is crucial is the resolve of the nation of Iran and then the unity of the country that they sought to undermine, but failed to break. The nation of Iran have become more resilient, more integrated, and more backing of the administration and the country in the aftermath of this invasion."