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Iran is willing to restart nuclear negotiations with the United States as long as it is approached with "dignity" and "honor", Iran's foreign minister has stated.

Abbas Araghchi declared only diplomacy worked, and shared recent overtures had been made by go-betweens to reopen negotiations with the American leadership. He claimed Iran possessed no undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran was not yet able to allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to visit attacked atomic facilities for security reasons.

Walking a Complex Path

The foreign minister is treading a challenging course since Iran does not want be seen to be operating from a position of disadvantage, and he emphatically stated that Iran had arisen stronger in military terms and psychologically from the coordinated strike on its nuclear sites in June.

He was addressing at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "an absolute privilege to enrich uranium domestically that it will never give up" – the main reason of the stalemate in the prior discussions.

Prior Talks Unexpectedly Ended

The prior phases of negotiations between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and hostile conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with Washington's assistance, targeted Iran's enrichment centers in a fortnight-long engagement that ended with the American leader asserting the sites had been destroyed. Following this, EU nations employed their authority to reimpose global restrictions, but Iran insists they have not had a substantial consequence.

Magic Solution Proposed

Tehran representatives stated they felt they had attained a "magic solution" to the enrichment issue in prior discussions, when it was settled an local partnership with Washington's engagement could process nuclear material. The two nations would have been able to claim victory since local refinement would have persisted and the US could be confident that Iran's atomic project was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been agreed in the discussions that American atomic experts could work on Iranian soil, but that was a natural consequence of the cooperative offer. Diplomats stated three times they had reached agreement with Trump's special envoy the US official only for the arrangement to disintegrate due to "opponents in the US".

Current Status

Iranian officials declared the cooperative arrangement was now off the table, but it seems very probable the proposal could be resurrected in some form if talks resume.

The US president recently said he had been receiving messages that Iran wanted to resume discussions, but privately Iranian officials claim they are not yet obtaining coherent offers from Washington either straightforwardly or from key regional mediators, such as Qatar, Egypt, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been criticized of inactivity in the aftermath of the US president's straightforward manner, but Iran states diplomacy is not part of a spectacle.

Negotiating Standpoint

In his speech to the gathering, aimed to portray the US as a dominant force that exploits the idea of worldwide standards, Araghchi said the 12-day war revealed the conflict could not be resolved by combat operations. He asserted the strikes began with a American requirement for an total Iran submission and concluded with an unconditional call for a ceasefire.

Iran is assured the first strikes by Israel were executed with complete American awareness and cooperation, making confidence hard to reestablish.

Diplomacy Remains the Primary Answer

The foreign minister declared: "Tehran was not the one that had fled diplomacy; it was the United States and the Western nations that had consistently tried to impose their will during the negotiations. Diplomacy can still be viable and remains the primary resolution to resolve disputes, but its standards, guidelines and principles must be followed."

"Provided that they speak to the nation of Iran with the tone of dignity and respect, they will get a response in the equivalent language."

Repair and Reconstruction

In what is described by Iranian officials as the conflict of restoration and rebuilding, the foreign minister claimed he was confident Iran's military capacities "have significantly improved than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been rebuilt. We acquired many lessons from this engagement; we have discovered our personal limitations and the vulnerabilities of the opponent."

He added: "We managed to survive this war. Our nuclear technology, which they intended to eliminate, continues to exist. The sites and gear, if destroyed, will be restored; what is important is the will of the citizens of Tehran and then the social solidarity that they aimed at, but failed to destroy. The Iranian people have developed more resilient, more united, and more endorsing of the government and the state in the aftermath of this assault."