🔗 Share this article

Tehran is ready to resume atomic negotiations with Washington as long as it is handled with "dignity" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has declared.

The Iranian diplomat declared solely negotiations produced results, and revealed new appeals had originated from intermediaries to restart discussions with the Trump administration. He claimed Iran possessed no secret atomic facilities, and Tehran was not yet able to allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to inspect bombed nuclear sites for security reasons.

Navigating a Challenging Route

Araghchi is treading a challenging course since Iran wishes not to be seen to be proceeding from a situation of weakness, and he consistently maintained that Iran had emerged more resilient militarily and emotionally from the Israeli-US attack on its atomic facilities in June.

He was speaking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an inalienable right to enrich uranium within its borders that it will never give up" – the key factor of the deadlock in the prior discussions.

Earlier Talks Suddenly Terminated

The earlier sessions of negotiations between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and bitter termination on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, targeted Iran's enrichment centers in a fortnight-long engagement that culminated with the American leader claiming the locations had been eliminated. Afterward, Western states employed their authority to restore international penalties, but Iran maintains they have not had a major impact.

Magic Solution Offered

Iran's diplomats said they felt they had attained a "magic solution" to the nuclear fuel concern in prior discussions, when it was settled an Iran-based consortium with US participation could refine atomic fuel. Both sides would have been able to assert triumph since home-based processing would have remained and the US could be assured that Iran's atomic project was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been decided in the discussions that American atomic experts could operate inside Iran, but that was a natural consequence of the cooperative offer. Diplomats asserted on multiple occasions they had reached agreement with Washington's diplomat the American negotiator only for the agreement to collapse due to "detractors in America".

Present Status

Iranian officials stated the partnership proposal was now no longer available, but it seems highly likely the proposal could be resurrected in certain ways if negotiations resume.

The American leader in recent days claimed he had been receiving messages that Iran wanted to resume discussions, but in private Iran's diplomats state they are not yet getting clear proposals from the United States either straightforwardly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been criticized of passivity in the aftermath of the US president's straightforward manner, but Iran asserts dialogue is not part of a spectacle.

Diplomatic Stance

In his speech to the gathering, designed to paint the US as a hegemonic power that exploits the concept of international law, the foreign minister declared the 12-day war revealed the conflict could not be ended by military means. He said the assaults began with a Washington's ultimatum for an total Iran submission and concluded with an unconditional call for a truce.

Iran is assured the first strikes by Israel were executed with full US knowledge and cooperation, making faith difficult to restore.

Dialogue Stays the Primary Resolution

Araghchi stated: "Tehran was not the one that had fled negotiations; it was America and the western countries that had repeatedly sought to dictate their will during the discussions. Dialogue can still be alive and continues the final resolution to settle conflicts, but its standards, rules and tenets must be respected."

"If they speak to the Iranian people with the approach of dignity and honor, they will get a reply in the same approach."

Repair and Recovery

In what is characterized by Iranian officials as the conflict of restoration and recovery, Araghchi claimed he was confident Iran's security strengths "are considerably enhanced than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been restored. We acquired numerous insights from this conflict; we have identified our personal limitations and the vulnerabilities of the enemy."

He continued: "We successfully passed this engagement. Our atomic expertise, which they planned to eliminate, stays intact. The facilities and machinery, if destroyed, will be reconstructed; what is important is the resolve of the citizens of Tehran and then the national cohesion that they aimed at, but did not succeed to shatter. The citizens of Tehran have become stronger, more cohesive, and more backing of the government and the nation in the face of this invasion."