Tehran Says It Might Resume American Atomic Talks provided that Approached with 'Respect' and 'Honor'
Tehran is ready to restart atomic discussions with the United States provided that it is handled with "dignity" and "respect", Tehran's foreign minister has declared.
The Iranian diplomat said solely negotiations worked, and revealed recent overtures had originated from intermediaries to resume talks with the Trump administration. He asserted Iran had zero secret atomic facilities, and Tehran could not yet authorize the UN nuclear inspectorate to visit attacked atomic facilities for safety concerns.
Navigating a Challenging Path
The foreign minister is walking a difficult course since Iran does not want appear to be acting from a position of weakness, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had come out more powerful in military terms and mentally from the Israeli-US attack on its enrichment centers in June.
He was speaking at a defense forum in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an inalienable right to enrich uranium within its borders that it will always maintain" – the primary cause of the impasse in the previous talks.
Earlier Discussions Abruptly Ended
The prior phases of talks between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and hostile conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with US support, struck Iran's enrichment centers in a fortnight-long engagement that ended with the US president claiming the locations had been destroyed. Subsequently, European countries employed their privilege to reinstate international penalties, but Iran asserts they have not had a substantial consequence.
Perfect Agreement Proposed
Iran's diplomats stated they felt they had achieved a "perfect agreement" to the enrichment issue in earlier negotiations, when it was settled an Iran-based consortium with American involvement could process nuclear material. Each party would have been able to declare success since home-based processing would have persisted and the US could be certain that Iran's enrichment initiative was solely for peaceful purposes.
It had not been settled in the talks that US nuclear scientists could operate on Iranian soil, but that was a logical implication of the cooperative offer. Officials stated on multiple occasions they had achieved a deal with Washington's diplomat the American negotiator only for the arrangement to fall apart due to "spoilers in Washington".
Current Status
Iran's diplomats said the consortium offer was now withdrawn, but it seems very probable the offer could be revived in certain ways if discussions resume.
The US president in recent days claimed he had been obtaining communications that Iran wanted to restart talks, but confidentially Iran's diplomats state they are not yet receiving consistent overtures from America either explicitly or from key regional mediators, such as Qatar, Egypt, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iran's state department has been charged of non-responsiveness in the aftermath of the US president's straightforward manner, but Tehran asserts diplomacy is not part of a performance.
Diplomatic Stance
In his address to the forum, intended to portray the US as a dominant force that exploits the notion of worldwide standards, the foreign minister declared the fortnight-long engagement revealed the dispute could not be resolved by military means. He said the strikes started with a American requirement for an complete Tehran capitulation and concluded with an absolute demand for a ceasefire.
Iran is certain the first strikes by Israel were mounted with full US knowledge and collaboration, making trust challenging to reestablish.
Diplomacy Stays the Final Resolution
Araghchi stated: "Tehran was not the one that had fled diplomacy; it was America and the European states that had always tried to enforce their desires during the negotiations. Diplomacy can still be alive and continues the final answer to settle disagreements, but its standards, rules and fundamentals must be followed."
"If they speak to the Iranian people with the language of respect and respect, they will obtain a response in the equivalent tone."
Repair and Reconstruction
In what is portrayed by Tehran representatives as the conflict of recovery and rebuilding, Araghchi said he was confident Iran's military capacities "are considerably enhanced than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been restored. We gained many lessons from this war; we have discovered our own weaknesses and the weaknesses of the enemy."
He stated: "We managed to survive this engagement. Our atomic expertise, which they intended to eliminate, stays intact. The sites and equipment, if destroyed, will be reconstructed; what is important is the will of the nation of Iran and then the unity of the country that they sought to undermine, but failed to shatter. The citizens of Tehran have become more powerful, more integrated, and more endorsing of the government and the nation in the face of this attack."