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Iran is ready to restart atomic negotiations with Washington provided that it is treated with "dignity" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has declared.

Abbas Araghchi stated only diplomacy produced results, and disclosed fresh requests had come from go-betweens to reopen talks with the Trump administration. He said Iran had zero secret atomic facilities, and Tehran was not yet able to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect attacked atomic facilities for protective measures.

Walking a Challenging Route

The foreign minister is treading a difficult course since Iran wishes not to appear to be operating from a situation of vulnerability, and he consistently maintained that Iran had emerged stronger in military terms and mentally from the Israeli-US attack on its nuclear sites in June.

He was addressing at a defense forum in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to process nuclear material within its borders that it will perpetually retain" – the main reason of the stalemate in the previous talks.

Earlier Discussions Unexpectedly Concluded

The earlier sessions of negotiations between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and bitter termination on 12 June when Israel, with US support, attacked Tehran's atomic facilities in a two-week conflict that culminated with the US president claiming the sites had been eliminated. Afterward, Western states employed their authority to reinstate international penalties, but Iran maintains they have not had a substantial consequence.

Perfect Agreement Proposed

Tehran representatives claimed they felt they had attained a "magic solution" to the uranium processing matter in prior discussions, when it was settled an domestic cooperative with US participation could process nuclear material. Each party would have been able to claim victory since local refinement would have continued and the US could be confident that Iran's nuclear programme was entirely non-military.

It had not been settled in the negotiations that American atomic experts could function within Iranian territory, but that was a reasonable assumption of the partnership suggestion. Representatives stated three times they had reached agreement with Washington's diplomat the American negotiator only for the deal to disintegrate due to "opponents in the US".

Current Situation

Iranian officials declared the consortium offer was now withdrawn, but it seems quite possible the suggestion could be revived in some form if talks resume.

The US president recently said he had been getting signals that Iran desired to resume discussions, but in private Iran's diplomats state they are not yet receiving coherent offers from Washington either straightforwardly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, Egypt, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been criticized of non-responsiveness in the wake of the US president's straightforward manner, but Tehran asserts negotiations is not part of a show.

Diplomatic Stance

In his remarks to the conference, intended to portray the US as a hegemonic power that abuses the notion of global regulations, Araghchi stated the fortnight-long engagement revealed the conflict could not be ended by combat operations. He asserted the strikes commenced with a US demand for an unconditional Iranian surrender and culminated with an unconditional call for a ceasefire.

Iran is convinced the opening assaults from Tel Aviv were mounted with total Washington understanding and coordination, making confidence hard to restore.

Dialogue Remains the Ultimate Answer

Araghchi declared: "Tehran was not the one that had abandoned diplomacy; it was America and the European states that had repeatedly attempted to dictate their desires during the discussions. Diplomacy can still be active and stays the primary resolution to address conflicts, but its criteria, guidelines and fundamentals must be adhered to."

"In case they speak to the Iranian people with the language of respect and respect, they will receive a response in the equivalent language."

Recovery and Rebuilding

In what is portrayed by Tehran representatives as the battle of restoration and rebuilding, the foreign minister stated he was assured Iran's security strengths "have significantly improved than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been rebuilt. We learned many lessons from this engagement; we have discovered our internal vulnerabilities and the weaknesses of the adversary."

He stated: "We managed to survive this engagement. Our enrichment knowledge, which they aimed to destroy, continues to exist. The facilities and machinery, if eliminated, will be rebuilt; what is crucial is the will of the Iranian people and then the national cohesion that they sought to undermine, but did not succeed to destroy. The citizens of Tehran have grown more resilient, more integrated, and more backing of the administration and the state in the wake of this assault."