🔗 Share this article

Iran is prepared to restart nuclear talks with Washington provided that it is approached with "respect" and "respect", Tehran's foreign minister has announced.

The Iranian diplomat stated only diplomacy worked, and revealed new appeals had originated from intermediaries to reopen talks with the American leadership. He said Iran possessed no undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran had not yet reached a point to permit the global atomic watchdog to access bombed nuclear sites for protective measures.

Navigating a Difficult Course

The foreign minister is treading a complex course since Iran does not want be seen to be acting from a position of vulnerability, and he emphatically stated that Iran had emerged stronger in military terms and emotionally from the joint assault on its nuclear sites in June.

He was talking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to refine atomic fuel on home soil that it will never give up" – the primary cause of the deadlock in the previous talks.

Earlier Talks Unexpectedly Ended

The previous five rounds of talks between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and hostile end on 12 June when the Israeli government, with American backing, struck Iranian nuclear sites in a fortnight-long engagement that culminated with the American leader declaring the facilities had been obliterated. Subsequently, European countries used their right to reinstate international penalties, but Iran maintains they have not had a significant effect.

Magic Solution Proposed

Iranian officials claimed they felt they had attained a "magic solution" to the enrichment issue in earlier negotiations, when it was decided an local partnership with US participation could process nuclear material. Both sides would have been able to assert triumph since local refinement would have continued and the US could be confident that Iran's enrichment initiative was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been settled in the negotiations that Washington's technical specialists could operate on Iranian soil, but that was a logical implication of the partnership suggestion. Diplomats stated repeatedly they had secured an understanding with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff only for the deal to disintegrate due to "spoilers in Washington".

Present Position

Iranian officials stated the cooperative arrangement was now withdrawn, but it seems highly likely the proposal could be reintroduced in various formats if negotiations reopen.

The American leader last week said he had been getting signals that Iran sought to restart talks, but confidentially Tehran representatives claim they are not yet obtaining consistent overtures from Washington either explicitly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and Saudi Arabia. The Tehran's diplomatic corps has been charged of inactivity in the face of the US president's straightforward manner, but Iran asserts diplomacy is not part of a show.

Negotiating Position

In his remarks to the forum, intended to portray the US as a controlling nation that exploits the notion of global regulations, Araghchi said the two-week conflict demonstrated the dispute could not be settled by combat operations. He stated the attacks started with a US demand for an complete Tehran capitulation and ended with an unconditional call for a truce.

Iran is convinced the opening assaults from Tel Aviv were executed with full US knowledge and collaboration, making trust difficult to rebuild.

Diplomacy Stays the Final Solution

The foreign minister said: "It was not Iran that had abandoned diplomacy; it was America and the European states that had consistently sought to dictate their desires during the discussions. Diplomacy can still be alive and continues the primary resolution to address disagreements, but its requirements, guidelines and fundamentals must be followed."

"If they speak to the nation of Iran with the approach of respect and honor, they will obtain a response in the equivalent approach."

Restoration and Reconstruction

In what is described by Tehran representatives as the battle of restoration and recovery, Araghchi said he was confident Iran's defence capabilities "are considerably enhanced than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been reestablished. We gained multiple understandings from this war; we have come to know our own weaknesses and the vulnerabilities of the opponent."

He continued: "We managed to survive this conflict. Our enrichment knowledge, which they planned to eliminate, remains in place. The facilities and gear, if eliminated, will be restored; what is essential is the resolve of the nation of Iran and then the national cohesion that they sought to undermine, but failed to destroy. The Iranian people have become stronger, more united, and more endorsing of the government and the state in the aftermath of this assault."