Tehran Says It May Rejoin US Atomic Talks if Approached with 'Dignity' and 'Honor'
Tehran is willing to restart atomic discussions with Washington on condition that it is handled with "respect" and "respect", Iran's top diplomat has declared.
Abbas Araghchi declared only diplomacy produced results, and revealed new appeals had been made by mediators to resume talks with the US government. He asserted Iran did not have undeclared nuclear sites, and Iran had not yet reached a point to permit the UN nuclear inspectorate to visit struck enrichment centers for security reasons.
Walking a Difficult Course
The foreign minister is walking a challenging route since Iran does not want be seen to be operating from a position of vulnerability, and he emphatically stated that Iran had arisen more resilient militarily and psychologically from the coordinated strike on its nuclear sites in June.
He was speaking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to enrich uranium domestically that it will always maintain" – the primary cause of the stalemate in the earlier negotiations.
Earlier Negotiations Unexpectedly Concluded
The prior phases of discussions between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and acrimonious end on 12 June when the Israeli government, with American backing, targeted Iran's enrichment centers in a two-week conflict that concluded with Donald Trump declaring the sites had been eliminated. Following this, Western states exercised their authority to restore global restrictions, but Iran maintains they have not had a significant effect.
Ideal Resolution Suggested
Tehran representatives said they felt they had achieved a "magic solution" to the uranium processing matter in earlier negotiations, when it was settled an local partnership with US participation could refine atomic fuel. The two nations would have been able to claim victory since home-based processing would have remained and the US could be assured that Iran's atomic project was exclusively peaceful.
It had not been decided in the negotiations that US nuclear scientists could function on Iranian soil, but that was a logical implication of the cooperative offer. Diplomats stated three times they had reached agreement with Washington's diplomat Steve Witkoff only for the agreement to fall apart due to "opponents in the US".
Existing Situation
Iranian officials stated the cooperative arrangement was now off the table, but it seems highly likely the proposal could be reintroduced in some form if negotiations reopen.
Trump last week stated he had been getting signals that Iran sought to reopen negotiations, but privately Tehran representatives say they are not yet receiving coherent offers from America either straightforwardly 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 charged of passivity in the wake of the US president's straightforward manner, but Tehran asserts diplomacy is not part of a performance.
Political Stance
In his remarks to the forum, intended to portray the US as a dominant force that abuses the concept of global regulations, the foreign minister stated the 12-day war demonstrated the clash could not be resolved by military means. He stated the assaults commenced with a American requirement for an complete Tehran capitulation and ended with an absolute demand for a truce.
Iran is certain the first strikes by Israel were executed with complete American awareness and coordination, making confidence hard to restore.
Negotiations Remains the Final Solution
The foreign minister said: "It was not Iran that had fled diplomacy; it was America and the western countries that had repeatedly attempted to enforce their demands during the discussions. Diplomacy can still be active and continues the final answer to resolve disputes, but its criteria, regulations and fundamentals must be followed."
"If they talk to the Iranian people with the approach of dignity and respect, they will receive a reply in the identical approach."
Repair and Recovery
In what is portrayed by Iranian officials as the conflict of restoration and recovery, the foreign minister said he was confident Iran's security strengths "are much stronger than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been rebuilt. We gained multiple understandings from this conflict; we have identified our internal vulnerabilities and the weaknesses of the adversary."
He continued: "We successfully passed this war. Our enrichment knowledge, which they intended to destroy, continues to exist. The installations and machinery, if destroyed, will be restored; what is essential is the resolve of the Iranian people and then the social solidarity that they aimed at, but did not succeed to destroy. The citizens of Tehran have developed more powerful, more cohesive, and more supportive of the administration and the state in the wake of this attack."