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Tehran is prepared to reinitiate atomic negotiations with Washington as long as it is handled with "dignity" and "respect", Iran's foreign minister has stated.

Abbas Araghchi declared only diplomacy worked, and disclosed new appeals had been made by mediators to reopen talks with the Trump administration. He said Iran did not have secret atomic facilities, and Iran was not yet able to allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to access struck enrichment centers for safety concerns.

Walking a Complex Route

Araghchi is navigating a challenging path since Iran wishes not to be perceived to be acting from a situation of disadvantage, and he emphatically stated that Iran had arisen more powerful defensively and psychologically from the Israeli-US attack on its nuclear sites in June.

He was talking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an inalienable right to process nuclear material on home soil that it will never give up" – the key factor of the impasse in the prior discussions.

Previous Talks Suddenly Terminated

The earlier sessions of negotiations between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and bitter end on 12 June when Israel, with Washington's assistance, struck Iran's enrichment centers in a fortnight-long engagement that concluded with Donald Trump declaring the facilities had been eliminated. Subsequently, EU nations used their privilege to reinstate international penalties, but Iran insists they have not had a significant effect.

Ideal Resolution Offered

Tehran representatives said they felt they had attained a "perfect agreement" to the enrichment issue in earlier negotiations, when it was agreed an domestic cooperative with American involvement could refine atomic fuel. Each party would have been able to claim victory since local refinement would have remained and the US could be confident that Iran's enrichment initiative was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been settled in the discussions that Washington's technical specialists could operate on Iranian soil, but that was a logical implication of the consortium proposal. Representatives stated repeatedly they had secured an understanding with Trump's special envoy the US official only for the arrangement to fall apart due to "opponents in the US".

Current Position

Iran's diplomats said the cooperative arrangement was now withdrawn, but it seems very probable the offer could be reintroduced in some form if talks reopen.

The American leader last week said he had been receiving messages that Iran desired to resume discussions, but in private Iranian officials say they are not yet receiving consistent overtures from Washington either directly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, Egypt, the Omani authorities and the Saudi kingdom. The Iranian foreign ministry has been accused of inactivity in the wake of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Tehran says diplomacy is not part of a spectacle.

Negotiating Stance

In his address to the conference, designed to portray the US as a dominant force that abuses the notion of international law, the foreign minister stated the 12-day war revealed the conflict could not be ended by military means. He asserted the assaults began with a Washington's ultimatum for an unconditional Iranian surrender and ended with an unconditional call for a halt to hostilities.

Iran is certain the opening assaults from Tel Aviv were executed with total Washington understanding and coordination, making trust hard to restore.

Diplomacy Continues the Final Resolution

Araghchi declared: "It was not Iran that had fled diplomacy; it was America and the Western nations that had consistently attempted to dictate their demands during the negotiations. Negotiations can still be alive and remains the final solution to address disagreements, but its criteria, rules and principles must be adhered to."

"In case they speak to the nation of Iran with the language of respect and honor, they will get a reply in the identical approach."

Restoration and Reconstruction

In what is characterized by Tehran representatives as the conflict of recovery and rebuilding, Araghchi claimed he was assured Iran's security strengths "are much stronger than before 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been reestablished. We learned numerous insights from this conflict; we have identified our personal limitations and the weaknesses of the opponent."

He stated: "We successfully passed this war. Our enrichment knowledge, which they aimed to destroy, continues to exist. The facilities and gear, if destroyed, will be rebuilt; what is crucial is the will of the citizens of Tehran and then the national cohesion that they sought to undermine, but failed to break. The citizens of Tehran have become more powerful, more cohesive, and more backing of the administration and the state in the wake of this invasion."