Tehran Says It Might Rejoin American Nuclear Talks if Handled with 'Dignity' and 'Honor'
Iran is willing to restart nuclear negotiations with Washington on condition that it is approached with "dignity" and "respect", Tehran's top diplomat has declared.
The Iranian diplomat stated solely negotiations produced results, and shared new appeals had been made by go-betweens to restart discussions with the American leadership. He said Iran had zero unreported enrichment locations, and Tehran had not yet reached a point to authorize the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect struck enrichment centers for security reasons.
Navigating a Difficult Path
The foreign minister is treading a challenging course since Iran aims to avoid be seen to be acting from a stance of vulnerability, and he consistently maintained that Iran had arisen more resilient defensively and mentally from the Israeli-US attack on its nuclear sites in June.
He was speaking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to process nuclear material within its borders that it will perpetually retain" – the primary cause of the deadlock in the earlier negotiations.
Prior Discussions Abruptly Terminated
The earlier sessions of discussions between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and acrimonious end on 12 June when Israel, with US support, targeted Iranian nuclear sites in a fortnight-long engagement that ended with the US president declaring the facilities had been obliterated. Subsequently, EU nations employed their privilege to restore UN-wide sanctions, but Iran maintains they have not had a significant effect.
Ideal Resolution Proposed
Iran's diplomats claimed they felt they had attained a "ideal resolution" to the uranium processing matter in previous talks, when it was decided an domestic cooperative with US participation could refine atomic fuel. The two nations would have been able to declare success since local refinement would have persisted and the US could be assured that Iran's nuclear programme was entirely non-military.
It had not been settled in the talks that American atomic experts could function inside Iran, but that was a logical implication of the consortium proposal. Officials claimed on multiple occasions they had achieved a deal with Washington's diplomat the American negotiator only for the agreement to collapse due to "detractors in America".
Current Situation
Iran's diplomats declared the cooperative arrangement was now withdrawn, but it seems very probable the proposal could be revived in certain ways if discussions resume.
Trump last week stated he had been receiving messages that Iran desired to restart talks, but privately Tehran representatives claim they are not yet receiving coherent offers from Washington either straightforwardly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of passivity in the aftermath of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Iran asserts diplomacy is not part of a performance.
Political Stance
In his speech to the conference, intended to paint the US as a controlling nation that misuses the idea of worldwide standards, Araghchi stated the fortnight-long engagement showed the conflict could not be ended by armed force. He said the strikes began with a American requirement for an complete Tehran capitulation and concluded with an unconditional call for a truce.
Iran is assured the first strikes by Israel were executed with complete American awareness and cooperation, making trust challenging to rebuild.
Diplomacy Remains the Final Resolution
Araghchi said: "It was not Iran that had abandoned dialogue; it was the United States and the European states that had repeatedly sought to dictate their desires during the talks. Diplomacy can still be alive and continues the primary resolution to settle disputes, but its criteria, guidelines and tenets must be adhered to."
"In case they talk to the citizens of Tehran with the language of respect and honor, they will obtain a reply in the identical approach."
Restoration and Recovery
In what is described by Iranian officials as the battle of repair and reconstruction, the foreign minister stated he was confident Iran's defence capabilities "are considerably enhanced than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been reestablished. We learned many lessons from this war; we have discovered our own weaknesses and the vulnerabilities of the enemy."
He added: "We managed to survive this war. Our nuclear technology, which they intended to destroy, continues to exist. The facilities and machinery, if eliminated, will be rebuilt; what is crucial is the will of the citizens of Tehran and then the unity of the country that they aimed at, but were unable to break. The citizens of Tehran have become more powerful, more united, and more endorsing of the leadership and the state in the face of this invasion."