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Tehran is willing to restart nuclear negotiations with the United States as long as it is approached with "respect" and "honor", Iran's foreign minister has declared.

Abbas Araghchi stated only diplomacy worked, and disclosed fresh requests had been made by go-betweens to resume negotiations with the Trump administration. He said Iran had zero unreported enrichment locations, and Tehran had not yet reached a point to authorize the UN nuclear inspectorate to visit bombed nuclear sites for protective measures.

Navigating a Complex Course

The foreign minister is walking a complex path since Iran aims to avoid be perceived to be acting from a situation of weakness, and he consistently maintained that Iran had come out stronger in military terms and emotionally from the coordinated strike on its atomic facilities in June.

He was speaking at a defense forum in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to refine atomic fuel on home soil that it will always maintain" – the main reason of the stalemate in the prior discussions.

Previous Negotiations Unexpectedly Concluded

The previous five rounds of discussions between the United States and Iran were concluded unexpectedly and acrimonious conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, struck Iranian nuclear sites in a two-week conflict that ended with Donald Trump asserting the facilities had been obliterated. Following this, Western states employed their authority to reinstate global restrictions, but Iran asserts they have not had a substantial consequence.

Perfect Agreement Suggested

Iranian officials said they felt they had reached a "magic solution" to the enrichment issue in earlier negotiations, when it was settled an local partnership with Washington's engagement could enrich uranium. Each party would have been able to claim victory since local refinement would have remained and the US could be assured that Iran's enrichment initiative was entirely non-military.

It had not been agreed in the discussions that US nuclear scientists could operate on Iranian soil, but that was a natural consequence of the partnership suggestion. Diplomats stated on multiple occasions they had reached agreement with Trump's special envoy the American negotiator only for the deal to collapse due to "opponents in the US".

Existing Position

Tehran representatives said the cooperative arrangement was now withdrawn, but it seems highly likely the suggestion could be revived in certain ways if negotiations reopen.

Trump in recent days claimed he had been receiving messages that Iran wanted to reopen negotiations, but confidentially Tehran representatives say they are not yet receiving coherent offers from Washington either straightforwardly or from key regional mediators, such as Qatar, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of passivity in the wake of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Tehran states diplomacy is not part of a performance.

Political Stance

In his speech to the gathering, designed to paint the US as a dominant force that misuses the idea of international law, Araghchi said the 12-day war showed the conflict could not be settled by armed force. He said the assaults commenced with a US demand for an complete Tehran capitulation and ended with an complete request for a ceasefire.

Iran is convinced the first strikes by Israel were mounted with full US knowledge and collaboration, making confidence difficult to restore.

Dialogue Continues the Final Resolution

Araghchi stated: "It was not Iran that had deserted dialogue; it was the United States and the European states that had always sought to impose their desires during the negotiations. Negotiations can still be viable and remains the ultimate solution to settle disagreements, but its criteria, guidelines and tenets must be respected."

"Provided that they talk to the citizens of Tehran with the language of dignity and honor, they will obtain a reply in the same approach."

Restoration and Recovery

In what is described by Iran's diplomats as the conflict of recovery and reconstruction, Araghchi claimed he was confident Iran's defence capabilities "have significantly improved than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been reestablished. We acquired multiple understandings from this war; we have come to know our personal limitations and the vulnerabilities of the enemy."

He stated: "We successfully passed this engagement. Our nuclear technology, which they planned to obliterate, continues to exist. The installations and equipment, if destroyed, will be reconstructed; what is crucial is the will of the nation of Iran and then the social solidarity that they sought to undermine, but failed to break. The nation of Iran have developed more powerful, more united, and more endorsing of the administration and the nation in the wake of this assault."