Tehran is prepared to restart nuclear negotiations with Washington provided that it is treated with "respect" and "respect", Iran's foreign minister has announced.
The Iranian diplomat said exclusively dialogue produced results, and revealed recent overtures had come from mediators to reopen negotiations with the Trump administration. He asserted Iran had zero secret atomic facilities, and Tehran could not yet permit the global atomic watchdog to inspect bombed nuclear sites for safety concerns.
Araghchi is navigating a challenging path since Iran aims to avoid appear to be operating from a situation of vulnerability, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had emerged more resilient in military terms and mentally from the joint assault on its atomic facilities in June.
He was speaking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an inalienable right to refine atomic fuel on home soil that it will never give up" – the primary cause of the stalemate in the prior discussions.
The previous five rounds of discussions between the US and Iran were ended suddenly and bitter end on 12 June when Israel, with Washington's assistance, struck Tehran's atomic facilities in a fortnight-long engagement that ended with Donald Trump claiming the facilities had been obliterated. Subsequently, Western states used their authority to reimpose UN-wide sanctions, but Iran insists they have not had a significant effect.
Iranian officials said they felt they had reached a "ideal resolution" to the nuclear fuel concern in prior discussions, when it was agreed an Iran-based consortium with Washington's engagement could enrich uranium. Each party would have been able to claim victory since domestic enrichment would have continued and the US could be confident that Iran's atomic project was exclusively peaceful.
It had not been decided in the negotiations that Washington's technical specialists could operate inside Iran, but that was a reasonable assumption of the cooperative offer. Diplomats claimed three times they had reached agreement with Washington's diplomat Steve Witkoff only for the deal to collapse due to "opponents in the US".
Tehran representatives stated the partnership proposal was now no longer available, but it seems quite possible the suggestion could be revived in certain ways if talks resume.
The American leader in recent days said he had been getting signals that Iran desired to restart talks, but confidentially Tehran representatives say they are not yet getting coherent offers from the United States either straightforwardly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Iranian foreign ministry has been criticized of passivity in the wake of the US president's straightforward manner, but Iran states negotiations is not part of a show.
In his address to the gathering, designed to portray the US as a dominant force that abuses the notion of international law, Araghchi said the 12-day war demonstrated the clash could not be resolved by combat operations. He stated the assaults commenced with a American requirement for an total Iran submission and culminated with an unconditional call for a truce.
Iran is convinced the first strikes by Israel were mounted with complete American awareness and collaboration, making confidence challenging to restore.
The foreign minister declared: "Tehran was not the one that had deserted dialogue; it was the United States and the western countries that had repeatedly tried to impose their will during the negotiations. Dialogue can still be alive and continues the primary resolution to settle disputes, but its standards, rules and tenets must be respected."
"If they talk to the nation of Iran with the tone of respect and honor, they will receive a reply in the equivalent approach."
In what is portrayed by Iranian officials as the conflict of repair and recovery, Araghchi said he was assured Iran's military capacities "have significantly improved than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been reestablished. We gained many lessons from this war; we have identified our internal vulnerabilities and the shortcomings of the adversary."
He stated: "We managed to survive this engagement. Our atomic expertise, which they intended to obliterate, continues to exist. The installations and machinery, if eliminated, will be rebuilt; what is crucial is the resolve of the nation of Iran and then the national cohesion that they sought to undermine, but failed to shatter. The nation of Iran have developed more resilient, more cohesive, and more endorsing of the leadership and the state in the wake of this assault."
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