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Tehran is ready to restart nuclear negotiations with Washington as long as it is treated with "dignity" and "respect", Tehran's top diplomat has declared.

Abbas Araghchi declared exclusively dialogue worked, and revealed fresh requests had come from go-betweens to resume talks with the American leadership. He said Iran possessed no secret atomic facilities, and Iran was not yet able to allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to visit attacked atomic facilities for security reasons.

Walking a Difficult Path

Araghchi is walking a complex course since Iran wishes not to appear to be proceeding from a situation of vulnerability, and he consistently maintained that Iran had come out stronger defensively and mentally from the Israeli-US attack on its nuclear sites in June.

He was addressing at a defense forum in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an inalienable right to process nuclear material on home soil that it will never give up" – the main reason of the stalemate in the previous talks.

Prior Talks Unexpectedly Terminated

The prior phases of talks between the US and Iran were ended suddenly and acrimonious conclusion on 12 June when the Israeli government, with Washington's assistance, struck Iran's enrichment centers in a two-week conflict that culminated with Donald Trump claiming the locations had been eliminated. Afterward, EU nations employed their right to reinstate international penalties, but Iran maintains they have not had a significant effect.

Perfect Agreement Proposed

Iran's diplomats claimed they felt they had attained a "magic solution" to the enrichment issue in previous talks, when it was agreed an Iran-based consortium with American involvement could refine atomic fuel. Both sides would have been able to claim victory since local refinement would have persisted and the US could be assured that Iran's atomic project was entirely non-military.

It had not been agreed in the negotiations that US nuclear scientists could function within Iranian territory, but that was a reasonable assumption of the cooperative offer. Officials claimed on multiple occasions they had achieved a deal with the US representative Steve Witkoff only for the deal to disintegrate due to "spoilers in Washington".

Current Situation

Iran's diplomats declared the cooperative arrangement was now off the table, but it seems quite possible the proposal could be reintroduced in certain ways if negotiations resume.

The US president recently claimed he had been getting signals that Iran desired to resume discussions, but confidentially Iran's diplomats say they are not yet getting consistent overtures from America either directly or from key regional mediators, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of inactivity in the aftermath of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Tehran says negotiations is not part of a show.

Diplomatic Standpoint

In his address to the conference, aimed to paint the US as a hegemonic power that abuses the idea of global regulations, Araghchi stated the two-week conflict demonstrated the conflict could not be ended by military means. He asserted the assaults started with a Washington's ultimatum for an total Iran submission and ended with an complete request for a ceasefire.

Iran is convinced the initial Israeli attacks were mounted with complete American awareness and cooperation, making trust hard to reestablish.

Dialogue Stays the Primary Solution

The foreign minister stated: "Tehran was not the one that had abandoned dialogue; it was America and the Western nations that had repeatedly sought to dictate their will during the negotiations. Negotiations can still be alive and remains the final solution to address disagreements, but its criteria, guidelines and tenets must be followed."

"Provided that they speak to the nation of Iran with the approach of respect and honor, they will obtain a reply in the same tone."

Repair and Reconstruction

In what is described by Tehran representatives as the struggle of recovery and rebuilding, the foreign minister stated he was assured Iran's security strengths "have significantly improved than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been reestablished. We acquired many lessons from this war; we have discovered our internal vulnerabilities and the shortcomings of the opponent."

He stated: "We managed to survive this conflict. Our atomic expertise, which they aimed to destroy, stays intact. The installations and gear, if eliminated, will be reconstructed; what is important is the resolve of the Iranian people and then the national cohesion that they targeted, but did not succeed to destroy. The citizens of Tehran have grown stronger, more united, and more endorsing of the leadership and the nation in the wake of this invasion."