Tehran is ready to reinitiate atomic talks with the United States provided that it is treated with "dignity" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has stated.
The Iranian diplomat declared only diplomacy was effective, and shared fresh requests had come from go-betweens to reopen talks with the Trump administration. He asserted Iran had zero undeclared nuclear sites, and Iran could not yet allow the global atomic watchdog to visit bombed nuclear sites for safety concerns.
Araghchi is walking a complex path since Iran aims to avoid be seen to be acting from a situation of vulnerability, and he emphatically stated that Iran had come out more powerful militarily and emotionally from the joint assault on its enrichment centers in June.
He was addressing at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an inalienable right to enrich uranium on home soil that it will always maintain" – the key factor of the deadlock in the previous talks.
The previous five rounds of talks between the US and Iran were concluded unexpectedly and acrimonious end on 12 June when the Israeli government, with American backing, attacked Tehran's atomic facilities in a two-week conflict that culminated with the US president claiming the facilities had been eliminated. Afterward, European countries employed their right to reinstate global restrictions, but Iran insists they have not had a significant effect.
Iranian officials stated they felt they had achieved a "magic solution" to the uranium processing matter in earlier negotiations, when it was settled an Iran-based consortium with Washington's engagement could enrich uranium. 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 settled in the talks that US nuclear scientists could function on Iranian soil, but that was a reasonable assumption of the partnership suggestion. Representatives stated repeatedly they had secured an understanding with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff only for the deal to fall apart due to "spoilers in Washington".
Tehran representatives stated the cooperative arrangement was now withdrawn, but it seems highly likely the suggestion could be resurrected in some form if negotiations reopen.
The US president in recent days stated he had been obtaining communications that Iran desired to restart talks, but privately Iran's diplomats say they are not yet getting coherent offers from America either straightforwardly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and the Saudi kingdom. The Tehran's diplomatic corps has been charged of non-responsiveness in the wake of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Iran says diplomacy is not part of a spectacle.
In his speech to the conference, intended to portray the US as a controlling nation that exploits the notion of international law, the foreign minister declared the 12-day war demonstrated the conflict could not be resolved by military means. He asserted the attacks started with a US demand for an unconditional Iranian surrender and culminated with an unconditional call for a ceasefire.
Iran is certain the first strikes by Israel were executed with complete American awareness and collaboration, making confidence difficult to restore.
Araghchi declared: "Tehran was not the one that had abandoned negotiations; it was America and the western countries that had repeatedly tried to impose their will during the discussions. Negotiations can still be active and stays the ultimate answer to settle conflicts, but its requirements, guidelines and tenets must be adhered to."
"If they address to the nation of Iran with the tone of respect and respect, they will get a reply in the same approach."
In what is described by Iran's diplomats as the battle of repair and recovery, the foreign minister said he was assured Iran's military capacities "have significantly improved than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been rebuilt. We acquired multiple understandings from this war; we have discovered our own weaknesses and the shortcomings of the adversary."
He continued: "We effectively endured this engagement. Our atomic expertise, which they aimed to obliterate, stays intact. The sites and machinery, if damaged, will be reconstructed; what is essential is the resolve of the Iranian people and then the social solidarity that they sought to undermine, but did not succeed to shatter. The nation of Iran have grown more resilient, more integrated, and more supportive of the administration and the state in the aftermath of this assault."
