Iran Says It Might Resume US Atomic Discussions if Treated with 'Respect' and 'Respect'
Iran is ready to resume nuclear talks with the United States on condition that it is handled with "respect" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has declared.
Abbas Araghchi said exclusively dialogue produced results, and shared fresh requests had been made by go-betweens to reopen discussions with the Trump administration. He said Iran possessed no undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran had not yet reached a point to authorize the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect bombed nuclear sites for safety concerns.
Navigating a Complex Course
The foreign minister is treading a challenging route since Iran does not want be seen to be operating from a situation of weakness, and he consistently maintained that Iran had arisen more resilient in military terms and psychologically from the Israeli-US attack on its nuclear sites in June.
He was speaking at a defense forum in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to enrich uranium on home soil that it will perpetually retain" – the key factor of the stalemate in the previous talks.
Earlier Negotiations Suddenly Terminated
The prior phases of discussions between the US and Iran were concluded unexpectedly and bitter conclusion on 12 June when the Israeli government, with Washington's assistance, struck Iranian nuclear sites in a two-week conflict that ended with Donald Trump asserting the sites had been destroyed. Afterward, European countries employed their authority to restore UN-wide sanctions, but Iran insists they have not had a substantial consequence.
Perfect Agreement Proposed
Iranian officials said they felt they had achieved a "perfect agreement" to the uranium processing matter in earlier negotiations, when it was settled an domestic cooperative with Washington's engagement could refine atomic fuel. Each party would have been able to claim victory since local refinement would have persisted and the US could be certain that Iran's atomic project was entirely non-military.
It had not been settled in the talks that Washington's technical specialists could operate inside Iran, but that was a logical implication of the partnership suggestion. Diplomats stated repeatedly they had reached agreement with Trump's special envoy the American negotiator only for the arrangement to collapse due to "opponents in the US".
Current Status
Iranian officials stated the consortium offer was now withdrawn, but it seems very probable the offer could be reintroduced in some form if negotiations resume.
The American leader recently claimed he had been getting signals that Iran desired to reopen negotiations, but privately Tehran representatives claim they are not yet receiving coherent offers from America either straightforwardly or from key regional mediators, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iran's state department has been criticized of passivity in the face of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran says diplomacy is not part of a show.
Diplomatic Stance
In his remarks to the forum, aimed to portray the US as a hegemonic power that abuses the notion of global regulations, the foreign minister said the 12-day war demonstrated the dispute could not be resolved by armed force. He stated the strikes started with a US demand for an complete Tehran capitulation and concluded with an complete request for a ceasefire.
Iran is convinced the first strikes by Israel were carried out with complete American awareness and collaboration, making confidence difficult to rebuild.
Negotiations Remains the Ultimate Resolution
Araghchi declared: "It was not Iran that had abandoned dialogue; it was the United States and the western countries that had repeatedly attempted to enforce their demands during the discussions. Dialogue can still be viable and continues the primary solution to settle disagreements, but its criteria, guidelines and fundamentals must be adhered to."
"Provided that they talk to the nation of Iran with the language of dignity and honor, they will receive a reply in the equivalent tone."
Recovery and Rebuilding
In what is portrayed by Iranian officials as the conflict of restoration and rebuilding, the foreign minister claimed he was confident Iran's security strengths "have significantly improved than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been rebuilt. We learned many lessons from this engagement; we have discovered our internal vulnerabilities and the weaknesses of the enemy."
He added: "We managed to survive this war. Our enrichment knowledge, which they intended to eliminate, stays intact. The installations and machinery, if destroyed, will be restored; what is crucial is the resolve of the Iranian people and then the national cohesion that they aimed at, but failed to destroy. The citizens of Tehran have grown more powerful, more cohesive, and more endorsing of the leadership and the state in the wake of this invasion."