Tehran States It Could Resume American Atomic Talks if Handled with 'Dignity' and 'Honor'
Tehran is ready to resume nuclear discussions with Washington as long as it is treated with "respect" and "honor", Tehran's top diplomat has announced.
Abbas Araghchi stated solely negotiations was effective, and shared fresh requests had been made by intermediaries to restart negotiations with the Trump administration. He claimed Iran had zero undeclared nuclear sites, and Iran had not yet reached a point to permit the global atomic watchdog to visit struck enrichment centers for protective measures.
Walking a Challenging Course
Araghchi is treading a complex course since Iran aims to avoid be perceived to be proceeding from a situation of weakness, and he emphatically stated that Iran had emerged stronger in military terms and psychologically from the Israeli-US attack on its enrichment centers in June.
He was speaking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an inalienable right to enrich uranium on home soil that it will always maintain" – the main reason of the stalemate in the earlier negotiations.
Earlier Discussions Abruptly Ended
The previous five rounds of negotiations between the United States and Iran were ended suddenly and hostile termination on 12 June when the Israeli government, with Washington's assistance, attacked Tehran's atomic facilities in a fortnight-long engagement that ended with Donald Trump declaring the locations had been destroyed. Subsequently, European countries exercised their privilege to reimpose global restrictions, but Iran asserts they have not had a major impact.
Ideal Resolution Offered
Iran's diplomats claimed they felt they had reached a "ideal resolution" to the nuclear fuel concern in prior discussions, when it was settled an Iran-based consortium with US participation could refine atomic fuel. Each party would have been able to claim victory since home-based processing would have persisted and the US could be assured that Iran's nuclear programme was entirely non-military.
It had not been agreed in the talks that US nuclear scientists could work on Iranian soil, but that was a reasonable assumption of the cooperative offer. Officials asserted three times they had achieved a deal with Trump's special envoy the American negotiator only for the arrangement to collapse due to "detractors in America".
Present Status
Iran's diplomats declared the partnership proposal was now withdrawn, but it seems quite possible the offer could be revived in various formats if negotiations reopen.
Trump last week claimed he had been obtaining communications that Iran wanted to resume discussions, but in private Iran's diplomats state they are not yet getting clear proposals from Washington either directly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as the Qatari government, Egypt, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of passivity in the wake of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Iran states dialogue is not part of a spectacle.
Diplomatic Standpoint
In his address to the forum, designed to portray the US as a controlling nation that abuses the notion of global regulations, the foreign minister declared the 12-day war demonstrated the conflict could not be resolved by military means. He asserted the strikes commenced with a American requirement for an complete Tehran capitulation and concluded with an unconditional call for a halt to hostilities.
Iran is certain the first strikes by Israel were mounted with complete American awareness and cooperation, making confidence hard to restore.
Diplomacy Remains the Ultimate Solution
The foreign minister said: "It was not Iran that had fled negotiations; it was America and the European states that had always tried to impose their desires during the discussions. Diplomacy can still be alive and continues the primary answer to settle disagreements, but its criteria, rules and fundamentals must be adhered to."
"If they address to the Iranian people with the tone of respect and honor, they will receive a reply in the same language."
Repair and Reconstruction
In what is portrayed by Iranian officials as the conflict of repair and rebuilding, the foreign minister stated he was certain Iran's security strengths "are much stronger than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been reestablished. We gained numerous insights from this engagement; we have identified our internal vulnerabilities and the weaknesses of the enemy."
He added: "We effectively endured this conflict. Our nuclear technology, which they intended to eliminate, stays intact. The installations and equipment, if damaged, will be reconstructed; what is important is the will of the citizens of Tehran and then the national cohesion that they sought to undermine, but failed to shatter. The nation of Iran have developed more powerful, more integrated, and more backing of the government and the country in the aftermath of this attack."