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Tehran is ready to reinitiate atomic talks with Washington provided that it is handled with "respect" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has announced.

Abbas Araghchi stated only diplomacy was effective, and revealed recent overtures had come from mediators to resume talks with the US government. He asserted Iran did not have undeclared nuclear sites, and Iran could not yet authorize the global atomic watchdog to access bombed nuclear sites for safety concerns.

Navigating a Challenging Route

The foreign minister is navigating a complex route since Iran wishes not to be seen to be proceeding from a position of weakness, and he consistently maintained that Iran had come out more powerful militarily and emotionally from the joint assault on its nuclear sites in June.

He was speaking at a security conference in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "an absolute privilege to refine atomic fuel domestically that it will always maintain" – the key factor of the stalemate in the earlier negotiations.

Earlier Talks Unexpectedly Ended

The earlier sessions of negotiations between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and bitter termination on 12 June when the Israeli government, with American backing, targeted Iran's enrichment centers in a two-week conflict that ended with the US president asserting the facilities had been obliterated. Afterward, EU nations exercised their right to reinstate UN-wide sanctions, but Iran asserts they have not had a major impact.

Magic Solution Proposed

Iran's diplomats stated they felt they had achieved a "ideal resolution" to the uranium processing matter in earlier negotiations, when it was decided an local partnership with American involvement could enrich uranium. Both sides would have been able to assert triumph since domestic enrichment would have continued and the US could be assured that Iran's atomic project was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been decided in the discussions that American atomic experts could operate inside Iran, but that was a reasonable assumption of the cooperative offer. Officials stated repeatedly they had secured an understanding with the US representative the American negotiator only for the deal to collapse due to "opponents in the US".

Current Status

Iranian officials declared the consortium offer was now no longer available, but it seems very probable the offer could be revived in various formats if negotiations restart.

Trump recently said he had been getting signals that Iran wanted to reopen negotiations, but privately Tehran representatives claim they are not yet receiving coherent offers from the United States either explicitly or from significant local go-betweens, such as Qatar, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of non-responsiveness in the aftermath of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Iran states dialogue is not part of a show.

Negotiating Position

In his remarks to the forum, designed to portray the US as a controlling nation that abuses the idea of worldwide standards, the foreign minister stated the 12-day war demonstrated the dispute could not be settled by combat operations. He stated the assaults started with a US demand for an unconditional Iranian surrender and concluded with an absolute demand for a ceasefire.

Iran is convinced the first strikes by Israel were executed with complete American awareness and coordination, making faith hard to restore.

Negotiations Remains the Ultimate Solution

Araghchi said: "It was not Iran that had deserted diplomacy; it was the United States and the western countries that had always tried to impose their desires during the negotiations. Diplomacy can still be viable and remains the primary answer to resolve conflicts, but its standards, regulations and fundamentals must be followed."

"If they talk to the nation of Iran with the approach of respect and honor, they will obtain a reply in the identical approach."

Repair and Reconstruction

In what is described by Tehran representatives as the struggle of recovery and reconstruction, Araghchi stated he was confident Iran's security strengths "are much stronger than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been rebuilt. We learned multiple understandings from this war; we have discovered our own weaknesses and the vulnerabilities of the enemy."

He added: "We successfully passed this war. Our nuclear technology, which they intended to obliterate, continues to exist. The sites and gear, if damaged, will be rebuilt; what is crucial is the will of the nation of Iran and then the unity of the country that they aimed at, but did not succeed to break. The citizens of Tehran have become more resilient, more integrated, and more supportive of the administration and the nation in the wake of this assault."