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Tehran is prepared to reinitiate nuclear negotiations with the United States provided that it is handled with "dignity" and "honor", Iran's foreign minister has announced.

Abbas Araghchi said only diplomacy was effective, and revealed fresh requests had been made by mediators to resume talks with the US government. He asserted Iran did not have secret atomic facilities, and Iran was not yet able to allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to inspect attacked atomic facilities for security reasons.

Navigating a Difficult Route

Araghchi is navigating a complex path since Iran aims to avoid be seen to be proceeding from a stance of vulnerability, and he consistently maintained that Iran had arisen more powerful militarily and emotionally from the joint assault on its nuclear sites in June.

He was speaking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "an inalienable right to enrich uranium on home soil that it will always maintain" – the key factor of the deadlock in the earlier negotiations.

Prior Talks Abruptly Ended

The earlier sessions of discussions between the United States and Iran were concluded unexpectedly and hostile conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with US support, attacked Tehran's atomic facilities in a fortnight-long engagement that culminated with Donald Trump claiming the locations had been eliminated. Subsequently, European countries used their authority to reimpose international penalties, but Iran insists they have not had a major impact.

Perfect Agreement Suggested

Tehran representatives claimed they felt they had attained a "perfect agreement" to the enrichment issue in prior discussions, when it was decided an domestic cooperative with American involvement could process nuclear material. The two nations would have been able to claim victory since local refinement would have remained and the US could be assured that Iran's atomic project was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been agreed in the negotiations that US nuclear scientists could operate on Iranian soil, but that was a natural consequence of the consortium proposal. Officials asserted on multiple occasions they had secured an understanding with the US representative Steve Witkoff only for the arrangement to collapse due to "opponents in the US".

Present Position

Iranian officials declared the cooperative arrangement was now withdrawn, but it seems quite possible the offer could be reintroduced in some form if discussions restart.

The US president last week claimed he had been receiving messages that Iran desired to reopen negotiations, but in private Iran's diplomats say they are not yet receiving coherent offers from America either directly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of passivity in the wake of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Tehran says dialogue is not part of a performance.

Negotiating Position

In his remarks to the forum, designed to depict the US as a controlling nation that misuses the concept of global regulations, the foreign minister declared the fortnight-long engagement showed the clash could not be resolved by combat operations. He said the attacks started with a American requirement for an complete Tehran capitulation and culminated with an complete request for a ceasefire.

Iran is assured the opening assaults from Tel Aviv were carried out with full US knowledge and collaboration, making faith difficult to restore.

Diplomacy Stays the Final Solution

The foreign minister said: "Tehran was not the one that had deserted diplomacy; it was the United States and the western countries that had consistently tried to enforce their will during the discussions. Diplomacy can still be alive and remains the primary answer to settle disagreements, but its standards, regulations and tenets must be respected."

"If they speak to the nation of Iran with the approach of dignity and respect, they will receive a reply in the same language."

Recovery and Recovery

In what is described by Tehran representatives as the struggle of restoration and reconstruction, the foreign minister stated he was certain Iran's security strengths "are much stronger than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been restored. We learned multiple understandings from this engagement; we have identified our internal vulnerabilities and the vulnerabilities of the adversary."

He added: "We successfully passed this engagement. Our atomic expertise, which they planned to obliterate, remains in place. The sites and gear, if destroyed, will be restored; what is essential is the will of the citizens of Tehran and then the national cohesion that they targeted, but failed to shatter. The Iranian people have become more resilient, more cohesive, and more endorsing of the administration and the state in the aftermath of this attack."