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Tehran is ready to restart nuclear negotiations with the United States on condition that it is treated with "respect" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has stated.

Abbas Araghchi said only diplomacy was effective, and disclosed new appeals had come from go-betweens to reopen negotiations with the American leadership. He claimed Iran did not have unreported enrichment locations, and Iran could not yet authorize the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect bombed nuclear sites for security reasons.

Navigating a Complex Path

Araghchi is treading a challenging course since Iran aims to avoid be seen to be proceeding from a position of weakness, and he consistently maintained that Iran had emerged more powerful defensively and psychologically from the Israeli-US attack on its nuclear sites in June.

He was addressing at a defense forum in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "an absolute privilege to enrich uranium domestically that it will perpetually retain" – the primary cause of the impasse in the prior discussions.

Prior Talks Unexpectedly Ended

The prior phases of negotiations between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and hostile termination on 12 June when Israel, with Washington's assistance, targeted Iran's enrichment centers in a fortnight-long engagement that ended with the US president declaring the sites had been obliterated. Following this, Western states employed their right to reinstate UN-wide sanctions, but Iran asserts they have not had a substantial consequence.

Ideal Resolution Proposed

Tehran representatives said they felt they had achieved a "magic solution" to the uranium processing matter in previous talks, when it was decided an local partnership with US participation could refine atomic fuel. Each party would have been able to assert triumph since local refinement would have persisted and the US could be assured that Iran's nuclear programme was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been agreed in the talks that American atomic experts could function inside Iran, but that was a natural consequence of the cooperative offer. Officials asserted three times they had achieved a deal with Trump's special envoy the US official only for the arrangement to fall apart due to "detractors in America".

Present Position

Tehran representatives declared the cooperative arrangement was now no longer available, but it seems very probable the proposal could be resurrected in various formats if negotiations restart.

The American leader last week claimed he had been getting signals that Iran sought to restart talks, but privately Iran's diplomats say they are not yet obtaining clear proposals from America 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 inactivity in the wake of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran asserts diplomacy is not part of a performance.

Negotiating Standpoint

In his remarks to the forum, intended to portray the US as a hegemonic power that misuses the concept of international law, the foreign minister declared the two-week conflict demonstrated the conflict could not be resolved by combat operations. He asserted the strikes began with a Washington's ultimatum for an complete Tehran capitulation and concluded with an absolute demand for a halt to hostilities.

Iran is certain the first strikes by Israel were carried out with complete American awareness and cooperation, making confidence challenging to rebuild.

Dialogue Continues the Final Resolution

The foreign minister stated: "It was not Iran that had abandoned negotiations; it was America and the western countries that had repeatedly sought to dictate their desires during the negotiations. Negotiations can still be active and stays the final solution to resolve disputes, but its criteria, rules and principles must be followed."

"If they speak to the nation of Iran with the approach of respect and honor, they will get a response in the same tone."

Restoration and Reconstruction

In what is described by Iranian officials as the conflict of restoration and recovery, Araghchi claimed he was confident Iran's defence capabilities "are much stronger than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been rebuilt. We gained many lessons from this engagement; we have discovered our personal limitations and the vulnerabilities of the opponent."

He continued: "We successfully passed this war. Our nuclear technology, which they planned to obliterate, remains in place. The installations and equipment, if destroyed, will be restored; what is essential is the determination of the citizens of Tehran and then the unity of the country that they targeted, but did not succeed to destroy. The Iranian people have developed more resilient, more integrated, and more supportive of the leadership and the country in the aftermath of this assault."