Iran States It May Return to American Atomic Negotiations provided that Approached with 'Dignity' and 'Respect'
Tehran is ready to resume atomic talks with the United States provided that it is handled with "respect" and "respect", Iran's foreign minister has declared.
Abbas Araghchi said solely negotiations worked, and revealed recent overtures had come from mediators to reopen talks with the US government. He claimed Iran possessed no secret atomic facilities, and Tehran could not yet allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to access bombed nuclear sites for security reasons.
Navigating a Complex Path
The foreign minister is treading a complex course since Iran aims to avoid be perceived to be proceeding from a position of weakness, and he emphatically stated that Iran had arisen more powerful militarily and mentally from the coordinated strike on its atomic facilities in June.
He was addressing at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "an inalienable right to refine atomic fuel on home soil that it will never give up" – the primary cause of the stalemate in the previous talks.
Earlier Talks Unexpectedly Concluded
The prior phases of discussions between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and hostile end on 12 June when the Israeli government, with Washington's assistance, struck Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war that ended with the US president claiming the facilities had been obliterated. Following this, European countries employed their authority to restore UN-wide sanctions, but Iran insists 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 earlier negotiations, when it was agreed an Iran-based consortium with American involvement could enrich uranium. Each party would have been able to declare success since local refinement would have persisted and the US could be confident that Iran's nuclear programme was exclusively peaceful.
It had not been agreed in the discussions that Washington's technical specialists could operate on Iranian soil, but that was a logical implication of the cooperative offer. Diplomats asserted repeatedly they had secured an understanding with Trump's special envoy the US official only for the arrangement to fall apart due to "detractors in America".
Existing Situation
Tehran representatives said the partnership proposal was now no longer available, but it seems quite possible the suggestion could be resurrected in various formats if discussions resume.
The US president in recent days claimed he had been getting signals that Iran sought to reopen negotiations, but confidentially Iranian officials say they are not yet receiving consistent overtures from Washington either straightforwardly or from key regional mediators, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of non-responsiveness in the aftermath of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Tehran asserts negotiations is not part of a spectacle.
Political Position
In his address to the conference, aimed to paint the US as a controlling nation that misuses the idea of international law, Araghchi stated the 12-day war demonstrated the dispute could not be resolved by combat operations. He stated the assaults commenced with a American requirement for an complete Tehran capitulation and culminated with an complete request for a halt to hostilities.
Iran is convinced the first strikes by Israel were executed with complete American awareness and cooperation, making faith challenging to reestablish.
Negotiations Continues the Final Answer
The foreign minister declared: "Tehran was not the one that had fled negotiations; it was the United States and the Western nations that had always tried to impose their desires during the discussions. Negotiations can still be active and remains the final resolution to resolve disagreements, but its criteria, regulations and fundamentals must be adhered to."
"In case they talk to the citizens of Tehran with the approach of dignity and honor, they will receive a response in the same tone."
Recovery and Reconstruction
In what is characterized by Iran's diplomats as the struggle of repair and reconstruction, the foreign minister claimed he was assured Iran's security strengths "are considerably enhanced than before 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been rebuilt. We gained many lessons from this war; we have discovered our own weaknesses and the weaknesses of the opponent."
He stated: "We effectively endured this conflict. Our nuclear technology, which they planned to destroy, remains in place. The installations and gear, if destroyed, will be reconstructed; what is essential is the resolve of the citizens of Tehran and then the national cohesion that they targeted, but did not succeed to shatter. The citizens of Tehran have become more resilient, more integrated, and more endorsing of the government and the nation in the face of this invasion."