Iran Says It Might Rejoin American Atomic Discussions if Handled with 'Respect' and 'Honor'
Iran is willing to resume atomic discussions with Washington on condition that it is handled with "dignity" and "honor", Iran's foreign minister has declared.
The Iranian diplomat stated only diplomacy was effective, and shared recent overtures had been made by intermediaries to reopen talks with the US government. He claimed Iran possessed no unreported enrichment locations, and Iran could not yet permit the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect struck enrichment centers for safety concerns.
Navigating a Difficult Route
Araghchi is walking a challenging route since Iran does not want be seen to be operating from a position of disadvantage, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had come out stronger in military terms and psychologically from the joint assault on its enrichment centers in June.
He was talking at a security conference in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to process nuclear material on home soil that it will always maintain" – the key factor of the stalemate in the prior discussions.
Earlier Discussions Abruptly Ended
The previous five rounds of negotiations between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and bitter conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with US support, attacked Iran's enrichment centers in a fortnight-long engagement that ended with the US president asserting the facilities had been destroyed. Subsequently, Western states employed their privilege to restore international penalties, but Iran asserts they have not had a significant effect.
Ideal Resolution Offered
Tehran representatives said they felt they had attained a "perfect agreement" to the enrichment issue in prior discussions, when it was agreed an domestic cooperative with Washington's engagement could process nuclear material. Each party would have been able to claim victory since domestic enrichment would have continued and the US could be assured that Iran's atomic project was entirely non-military.
It had not been agreed in the negotiations that US nuclear scientists could operate inside Iran, but that was a natural consequence of the cooperative offer. Officials claimed repeatedly they had reached agreement with the US representative Steve Witkoff only for the arrangement to fall apart due to "spoilers in Washington".
Current Situation
Tehran representatives declared the consortium offer was now no longer available, but it seems very probable the proposal could be reintroduced in certain ways if talks resume.
The American leader recently said he had been obtaining communications that Iran desired to reopen negotiations, but privately Iranian officials state they are not yet receiving clear proposals from America either directly or from significant local go-betweens, such as Qatar, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of inactivity in the wake of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran asserts dialogue is not part of a show.
Diplomatic Stance
In his address to the gathering, aimed to depict the US as a dominant force that abuses the notion of worldwide standards, the foreign minister said the 12-day war revealed the dispute could not be resolved by military means. He stated the attacks commenced with a American requirement for an unconditional Iranian surrender and ended with an unconditional call for a halt to hostilities.
Iran is assured the initial Israeli attacks were carried out with complete American awareness and coordination, making trust hard to restore.
Diplomacy Stays the Primary Solution
The foreign minister said: "It was not Iran that had abandoned dialogue; it was the United States and the European states that had always tried to impose their demands during the talks. Negotiations can still be active and continues the ultimate resolution to resolve disputes, but its standards, regulations and tenets must be respected."
"In case they address to the Iranian people with the tone of respect and honor, they will receive a response in the identical tone."
Recovery and Recovery
In what is described by Iran's diplomats as the conflict of restoration and rebuilding, the foreign minister stated he was certain Iran's security strengths "are much stronger than before 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been rebuilt. We acquired numerous insights from this conflict; we have come to know our own weaknesses and the shortcomings of the adversary."
He added: "We effectively endured this conflict. Our nuclear technology, which they planned to obliterate, remains in place. The facilities and equipment, if destroyed, will be rebuilt; what is important is the will of the Iranian people and then the national cohesion that they targeted, but were unable to break. The citizens of Tehran have grown stronger, more integrated, and more backing of the government and the state in the wake of this assault."