Iran Declares It May Return to American Nuclear Discussions if Handled with 'Dignity' and 'Respect'
Iran is ready to reinitiate atomic negotiations with Washington on condition that it is treated with "dignity" and "honor", Tehran's top diplomat has announced.
Abbas Araghchi stated solely negotiations worked, and shared recent overtures had originated from go-betweens to restart talks with the Trump administration. He asserted Iran did not have unreported enrichment locations, and Iran had not yet reached a point to allow the global atomic watchdog to visit attacked atomic facilities for protective measures.
Navigating a Complex Route
Araghchi is walking a challenging path since Iran aims to avoid be perceived to be proceeding from a position of vulnerability, and he consistently maintained that Iran had emerged more powerful militarily and emotionally 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 "a fundamental entitlement to refine atomic fuel on home soil that it will always maintain" – the main reason of the deadlock in the prior discussions.
Earlier Discussions Suddenly Ended
The earlier sessions of discussions between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and bitter end on 12 June when Israel, with Washington's assistance, attacked Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war that concluded with the American leader declaring the locations had been destroyed. Following this, European countries employed their authority to reimpose global restrictions, but Iran maintains they have not had a major impact.
Perfect Agreement Proposed
Iran's diplomats said they felt they had reached a "ideal resolution" to the uranium processing matter in previous talks, when it was settled an domestic cooperative with US participation could enrich uranium. The two nations would have been able to declare success since home-based processing would have continued and the US could be confident that Iran's nuclear programme was exclusively peaceful.
It had not been settled in the talks that US nuclear scientists could work on Iranian soil, but that was a reasonable assumption of the partnership suggestion. Diplomats stated three times they had achieved a deal with the US representative Steve Witkoff only for the agreement to fall apart due to "opponents in the US".
Existing Position
Iranian officials stated the consortium offer was now withdrawn, but it seems quite possible the offer could be reintroduced in some form if discussions restart.
The US president last week claimed he had been getting signals that Iran sought to resume discussions, but in private Iranian officials claim they are not yet obtaining coherent offers from Washington either explicitly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as the Qatari government, Egypt, the Omani authorities and the Saudi kingdom. The Tehran's diplomatic corps has been criticized of passivity in the aftermath of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran says diplomacy is not part of a performance.
Diplomatic Stance
In his remarks to the gathering, designed to depict the US as a dominant force that exploits the notion of international law, the foreign minister said the two-week conflict showed the dispute could not be settled by armed force. He said the attacks started with a Washington's ultimatum for an unconditional Iranian surrender and culminated with an unconditional call for a halt to hostilities.
Iran is certain the initial Israeli attacks were mounted with complete American awareness and cooperation, making trust hard to reestablish.
Dialogue Continues the Ultimate Resolution
Araghchi declared: "Tehran was not the one that had fled negotiations; it was America and the Western nations that had repeatedly sought to impose their desires during the negotiations. Dialogue can still be viable and remains the primary resolution to settle disagreements, but its standards, rules and principles must be followed."
"If they talk to the Iranian people with the tone of dignity and honor, they will get a response in the equivalent language."
Repair and Recovery
In what is described by Tehran representatives as the battle of repair and recovery, the foreign minister stated he was assured Iran's military capacities "have significantly improved than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been restored. We acquired numerous insights from this war; we have discovered our own weaknesses and the weaknesses of the adversary."
He added: "We successfully passed this conflict. Our nuclear technology, which they intended to destroy, remains in place. The facilities and machinery, if eliminated, will be restored; what is crucial is the resolve of the Iranian people and then the unity of the country that they sought to undermine, but were unable to destroy. The Iranian people have developed more resilient, more cohesive, and more supportive of the government and the state in the aftermath of this invasion."