🔗 Share this article

Iran is prepared to resume atomic negotiations with Washington provided that it is treated with "respect" and "respect", Iran's foreign minister has stated.

Abbas Araghchi stated exclusively dialogue worked, and disclosed fresh requests had originated from go-betweens to restart discussions with the Trump administration. He claimed Iran did not have undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran was not yet able to permit the UN nuclear inspectorate to access attacked atomic facilities for security reasons.

Navigating a Challenging Route

The foreign minister is navigating a challenging route since Iran wishes not to be perceived to be proceeding from a stance of vulnerability, and he emphatically stated that Iran had come out stronger in military terms and psychologically from the coordinated strike on its atomic facilities 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 never give up" – the main reason of the impasse in the previous talks.

Prior Negotiations Unexpectedly Terminated

The previous five rounds of negotiations between the United States and Iran were concluded unexpectedly and hostile conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, attacked Tehran's atomic facilities in a two-week conflict that ended with the US president claiming the facilities had been obliterated. Following this, European countries exercised their right to reinstate global restrictions, but Iran insists they have not had a significant effect.

Perfect Agreement Offered

Iran's diplomats claimed they felt they had attained a "perfect agreement" to the uranium processing matter in earlier negotiations, when it was settled an local partnership with US participation could process nuclear material. Each party would have been able to claim victory since local refinement would have remained and the US could be confident that Iran's atomic project was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been agreed in the negotiations that American atomic experts could operate within Iranian territory, but that was a reasonable assumption of the consortium proposal. Officials claimed three times they had achieved a deal with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff only for the arrangement to collapse due to "spoilers in Washington".

Current Status

Tehran representatives declared the cooperative arrangement was now withdrawn, but it seems very probable the suggestion could be resurrected in various formats if talks resume.

The US president recently stated he had been getting signals that Iran sought to resume discussions, but confidentially Tehran representatives claim they are not yet obtaining consistent overtures from the United States either directly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and the Saudi kingdom. The Iranian foreign ministry has been criticized of passivity in the wake of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran says negotiations is not part of a performance.

Negotiating Stance

In his speech to the conference, designed to paint the US as a hegemonic power that exploits the notion of international law, the foreign minister said the fortnight-long engagement revealed the dispute could not be ended by military means. He stated the strikes began with a American requirement for an unconditional Iranian surrender and concluded with an complete request for a truce.

Iran is convinced the initial Israeli attacks were carried out with full US knowledge and collaboration, making confidence challenging to rebuild.

Diplomacy Stays the Final Answer

Araghchi stated: "It was not Iran that had deserted negotiations; it was the United States and the European states that had consistently attempted to enforce their desires during the negotiations. Dialogue can still be alive and continues the primary answer to address disagreements, but its standards, guidelines and tenets must be followed."

"In case they address to the Iranian people with the approach of dignity and honor, they will get a response in the identical tone."

Restoration and Rebuilding

In what is described by Tehran representatives as the conflict of restoration and recovery, the foreign minister said he was confident Iran's security strengths "have significantly improved than before 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been reestablished. We gained many lessons from this war; we have identified our own weaknesses and the vulnerabilities of the adversary."

He stated: "We effectively endured this war. Our nuclear technology, which they planned to eliminate, remains in place. The sites and equipment, if destroyed, will be restored; what is crucial is the resolve of the citizens of Tehran and then the social solidarity that they sought to undermine, but failed to shatter. The Iranian people have grown stronger, more cohesive, and more backing of the government and the country in the face of this attack."