Iran Says It May Resume American Nuclear Discussions provided that Treated with 'Dignity' and 'Respect'
Tehran is willing to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States as long as it is handled with "dignity" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has announced.
The Iranian diplomat stated exclusively dialogue worked, and revealed new appeals had come from go-betweens to resume talks with the Trump administration. He claimed Iran did not have unreported enrichment locations, and Tehran was not yet able to allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to access attacked atomic facilities for security reasons.
Navigating a Difficult Course
The foreign minister is walking a challenging course since Iran aims to avoid be seen to be proceeding from a stance of disadvantage, and he consistently maintained that Iran had come out more resilient defensively and psychologically from the coordinated strike on its enrichment centers in June.
He was speaking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to process nuclear material on home soil that it will perpetually retain" – the key factor of the stalemate in the earlier negotiations.
Earlier Discussions Abruptly Concluded
The earlier sessions of discussions between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and acrimonious end on 12 June when the Israeli government, with US support, attacked Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war that ended with the American leader declaring the sites had been destroyed. Afterward, European countries exercised their authority to reimpose global restrictions, but Iran insists they have not had a major impact.
Magic Solution Proposed
Iran's diplomats claimed they felt they had reached a "perfect agreement" to the nuclear fuel concern in previous talks, when it was agreed an domestic cooperative with American involvement could process nuclear material. Each party would have been able to declare success since domestic enrichment would have remained and the US could be assured that Iran's nuclear programme was exclusively peaceful.
It had not been agreed in the negotiations that Washington's technical specialists could function inside Iran, but that was a logical implication of the partnership suggestion. Diplomats asserted on multiple occasions they had achieved a deal with Washington's diplomat the American negotiator only for the deal to disintegrate due to "spoilers in Washington".
Current Status
Iranian officials stated the cooperative arrangement was now withdrawn, but it seems quite possible the suggestion could be reintroduced in various formats if talks reopen.
The US president last week said he had been getting signals that Iran desired to reopen negotiations, but confidentially Iranian officials state they are not yet getting consistent overtures from the United States either directly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and the Saudi kingdom. The Iranian foreign ministry has been accused of passivity in the face of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Iran asserts dialogue is not part of a performance.
Political Position
In his address to the forum, intended to depict the US as a dominant force that misuses the concept of international law, Araghchi said the fortnight-long engagement showed the conflict could not be resolved by armed force. He said the assaults commenced with a American requirement for an unconditional Iranian surrender and culminated with an complete request for a halt to hostilities.
Iran is convinced the first strikes by Israel were carried out with complete American awareness and collaboration, making faith hard to restore.
Dialogue Continues the Final Answer
Araghchi declared: "It was not Iran that had fled diplomacy; it was America and the Western nations that had consistently attempted to impose their desires during the negotiations. Dialogue can still be alive and stays the primary resolution to resolve disagreements, but its standards, regulations and tenets must be followed."
"If they address to the Iranian people with the approach of dignity and respect, they will receive a reply in the same tone."
Repair and Recovery
In what is described by Iran's diplomats as the conflict of recovery and reconstruction, the foreign minister claimed he was confident Iran's military capacities "are considerably enhanced than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been restored. We learned many lessons from this conflict; we have discovered our personal limitations and the vulnerabilities of the opponent."
He stated: "We successfully passed this conflict. Our nuclear technology, which they planned to obliterate, stays intact. The sites and equipment, if eliminated, will be rebuilt; what is essential is the will of the citizens of Tehran and then the national cohesion that they targeted, but were unable to destroy. The citizens of Tehran have developed more resilient, more integrated, and more endorsing of the administration and the nation in the wake of this attack."