Tehran Says It May Rejoin US Nuclear Negotiations if Handled with 'Respect' and 'Honor'
Iran is willing to reinitiate nuclear discussions with Washington as long as it is treated with "respect" and "honor", Tehran's top diplomat has declared.
Abbas Araghchi declared exclusively dialogue worked, and revealed new appeals had been made by mediators to reopen talks with the Trump administration. He asserted Iran did not have unreported enrichment locations, and Tehran had not yet reached a point to permit the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect attacked atomic facilities for protective measures.
Navigating a Challenging Course
Araghchi is treading a challenging path since Iran does not want be perceived to be proceeding from a situation of weakness, and he consistently maintained that Iran had arisen more powerful defensively and mentally from the Israeli-US attack on its enrichment centers in June.
He was speaking at a security conference in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "an absolute privilege to process nuclear material on home soil that it will always maintain" – the key factor of the deadlock in the prior discussions.
Previous Negotiations Unexpectedly Concluded
The previous five rounds of discussions between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and acrimonious termination on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, struck Iranian nuclear sites in a fortnight-long engagement that concluded with the American leader declaring the sites had been eliminated. Following this, European countries exercised their right to reinstate global restrictions, but Iran maintains they have not had a significant effect.
Perfect Agreement Proposed
Iran's diplomats said they felt they had achieved a "magic solution" to the enrichment issue in prior discussions, when it was settled an local partnership with US participation could enrich uranium. The two nations would have been able to declare success since home-based processing would have persisted and the US could be assured that Iran's atomic project was entirely non-military.
It had not been agreed in the discussions that Washington's technical specialists could function on Iranian soil, but that was a reasonable assumption of the consortium proposal. Diplomats stated three times they had secured an understanding with Washington's diplomat Steve Witkoff only for the deal to fall apart due to "detractors in America".
Current Position
Iranian officials declared the consortium offer was now withdrawn, but it seems very probable the proposal could be reintroduced in certain ways if talks resume.
The US president last week said he had been receiving messages that Iran desired to resume discussions, but in private Tehran representatives claim they are not yet receiving consistent overtures from Washington either explicitly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Iran's state department has been accused of non-responsiveness in the face of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran asserts dialogue is not part of a spectacle.
Negotiating Stance
In his remarks to the gathering, intended to paint the US as a dominant force that abuses the notion of worldwide standards, the foreign minister said the two-week conflict revealed the clash could not be ended by combat operations. He said the assaults started with a Washington's ultimatum for an unconditional Iranian surrender and ended with an complete request for a ceasefire.
Iran is certain the initial Israeli attacks were carried out with full US knowledge and collaboration, making trust challenging to rebuild.
Negotiations Continues the Final Solution
The foreign minister declared: "Tehran was not the one that had abandoned dialogue; it was America and the western countries that had repeatedly sought to enforce their demands during the talks. Negotiations can still be alive and remains the ultimate solution to address conflicts, but its standards, rules and principles must be followed."
"In case they speak to the nation of Iran with the approach of dignity and honor, they will obtain a reply in the same approach."
Recovery and Reconstruction
In what is characterized by Tehran representatives as the battle of restoration and recovery, the foreign minister stated he was confident Iran's military capacities "have significantly improved than before 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been reestablished. We gained multiple understandings from this engagement; we have come to know our internal vulnerabilities and the vulnerabilities of the adversary."
He stated: "We successfully passed this engagement. Our atomic expertise, which they intended to obliterate, continues to exist. The sites and gear, if destroyed, will be rebuilt; what is essential is the resolve of the citizens of Tehran and then the national cohesion that they sought to undermine, but failed to break. The citizens of Tehran have developed stronger, more integrated, and more supportive of the leadership and the state in the aftermath of this assault."