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Tehran is willing to restart atomic negotiations with Washington as long as it is approached with "dignity" and "honor", Tehran's top diplomat has stated.

The Iranian diplomat said only diplomacy was effective, and shared recent overtures had come from mediators to reopen discussions with the US government. He asserted Iran did not have unreported enrichment locations, and Tehran had not yet reached a point to allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to access struck enrichment centers for protective measures.

Walking a Complex Course

Araghchi is treading a complex route since Iran aims to avoid be perceived to be proceeding from a stance of vulnerability, and he emphatically stated that Iran had come out stronger in military terms and emotionally from the Israeli-US attack on its atomic facilities in June.

He was speaking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to enrich uranium on home soil that it will always maintain" – the primary cause of the impasse in the prior discussions.

Earlier Negotiations Unexpectedly Ended

The previous five rounds of discussions between the United States and Iran were ended suddenly and bitter end on 12 June when the Israeli government, with US support, targeted Tehran's atomic facilities in a two-week conflict that culminated with Donald Trump declaring the sites had been obliterated. Following this, European countries exercised their privilege to reimpose UN-wide sanctions, but Iran asserts they have not had a substantial consequence.

Ideal Resolution Offered

Tehran representatives said they felt they had achieved a "magic solution" to the enrichment issue in prior discussions, when it was agreed an Iran-based consortium with American involvement could process nuclear material. The two nations would have been able to declare success since home-based processing would have continued and the US could be confident that Iran's nuclear programme was entirely non-military.

It had not been agreed in the discussions that US nuclear scientists could operate within Iranian territory, but that was a reasonable assumption of the consortium proposal. Officials asserted repeatedly they had achieved a deal with the US representative the American negotiator only for the deal to fall apart due to "detractors in America".

Present Status

Iran's diplomats said the partnership proposal was now off the table, but it seems very probable the suggestion could be resurrected in some form if negotiations resume.

Trump in recent days stated he had been getting signals that Iran wanted to restart talks, but privately Iranian officials claim they are not yet receiving coherent offers from America either directly or from significant local go-betweens, such as Qatar, Egypt, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Tehran's diplomatic corps has been criticized of passivity in the wake of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Tehran states dialogue is not part of a performance.

Diplomatic Standpoint

In his address to the conference, designed to depict the US as a hegemonic power that exploits the concept of worldwide standards, the foreign minister declared the fortnight-long engagement revealed the conflict could not be resolved by military means. He said the attacks began with a US demand for an complete Tehran capitulation and concluded with an unconditional call for a halt to hostilities.

Iran is assured the initial Israeli attacks were executed with full US knowledge and collaboration, making trust hard to restore.

Dialogue Remains the Ultimate Answer

Araghchi stated: "It was not Iran that had fled diplomacy; it was the United States and the European states that had always attempted to enforce their will during the negotiations. Dialogue can still be viable and continues the primary resolution to address disagreements, but its standards, regulations and tenets must be followed."

"In case they talk to the citizens of Tehran with the tone of dignity and honor, they will receive a reply in the identical language."

Restoration and Rebuilding

In what is described by Tehran representatives as the battle of repair 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 reestablished. We learned many lessons from this engagement; we have discovered our own weaknesses and the weaknesses of the adversary."

He continued: "We effectively endured this war. Our enrichment knowledge, which they intended to obliterate, remains in place. The installations and equipment, if eliminated, will be rebuilt; what is important is the resolve of the nation of Iran and then the unity of the country that they sought to undermine, but did not succeed to shatter. The Iranian people have developed more powerful, more integrated, and more supportive of the administration and the nation in the aftermath of this assault."