🔗 Share this article

Iran is prepared to reinitiate nuclear discussions with the United States on condition that it is treated with "dignity" and "respect", Iran's foreign minister has announced.

Abbas Araghchi stated only diplomacy produced results, and shared fresh requests had come from intermediaries to restart negotiations with the US government. He claimed Iran did not have unreported enrichment locations, and Tehran could not yet allow the global atomic watchdog to visit bombed nuclear sites for safety concerns.

Navigating a Challenging Course

The foreign minister is treading a difficult course since Iran aims to avoid be seen to be acting from a situation of weakness, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had emerged more powerful in military terms and emotionally from the joint assault on its nuclear sites in June.

He was talking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to enrich uranium domestically that it will perpetually retain" – the main reason of the stalemate in the previous talks.

Previous Discussions Abruptly Terminated

The previous five rounds of negotiations between the US and Iran were ended suddenly and bitter termination on 12 June when Israel, with US support, attacked Iranian nuclear sites in a fortnight-long engagement that ended with Donald Trump declaring the facilities had been obliterated. Following this, Western states exercised their privilege to restore UN-wide sanctions, but Iran asserts they have not had a major impact.

Magic Solution Offered

Iran's diplomats claimed they felt they had attained a "ideal resolution" to the uranium processing matter in previous talks, when it was agreed an Iran-based consortium with US participation could enrich uranium. Each party would have been able to declare success since domestic enrichment would have continued and the US could be assured that Iran's nuclear programme was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been settled in the negotiations that Washington's technical specialists could work inside Iran, but that was a reasonable assumption of the consortium proposal. Officials claimed three times they had secured an understanding with the US representative Steve Witkoff only for the arrangement to fall apart due to "opponents in the US".

Present Situation

Tehran representatives declared the cooperative arrangement was now off the table, but it seems very probable the proposal could be revived in various formats if discussions restart.

The American leader in recent days claimed he had been getting signals that Iran sought to restart talks, but in private Iranian officials state they are not yet obtaining clear proposals from Washington either directly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as the Qatari government, Egypt, the Omani authorities and the Saudi kingdom. The Iran's state department has been accused of non-responsiveness in the face of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran states diplomacy is not part of a spectacle.

Diplomatic Stance

In his address to the forum, aimed to paint the US as a hegemonic power that abuses the concept of worldwide standards, the foreign minister stated the fortnight-long engagement demonstrated the clash could not be ended by armed force. He said the assaults started with a US demand for an total Iran submission and concluded with an complete request for a truce.

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

Dialogue Remains the Primary Solution

Araghchi declared: "It was not Iran that had abandoned negotiations; it was the United States and the western countries that had consistently attempted to enforce their will during the discussions. Negotiations can still be alive and remains the primary solution to settle disagreements, but its requirements, regulations and fundamentals must be adhered to."

"If they speak to the nation of Iran with the approach of dignity and honor, they will receive a answer in the identical language."

Repair and Reconstruction

In what is described by Iranian officials as the battle of restoration and recovery, Araghchi said he was assured Iran's defence capabilities "are much stronger than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been reestablished. We gained numerous insights from this war; we have discovered our internal vulnerabilities and the shortcomings of the adversary."

He continued: "We successfully passed this war. Our enrichment knowledge, which they aimed to obliterate, remains in place. The installations and machinery, if eliminated, will be reconstructed; what is essential is the determination of the Iranian people and then the national cohesion that they targeted, but did not succeed to destroy. The Iranian people have become stronger, more united, and more endorsing of the administration and the state in the aftermath of this invasion."