Iran Declares It Could Rejoin US Nuclear Talks provided that Approached with 'Dignity' and 'Respect'

Iran is willing to restart nuclear negotiations with Washington as long as it is handled with "respect" and "respect", Iran's foreign minister has declared.

Abbas Araghchi said solely negotiations produced results, and disclosed recent overtures had come from mediators to resume talks with the US government. He said Iran did not have undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran had not yet reached a point to allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to inspect bombed nuclear sites for security reasons.

Walking a Difficult Course

The foreign minister is treading a difficult course since Iran does not want appear to be proceeding from a situation of disadvantage, and he emphatically stated that Iran had arisen more powerful in military terms and psychologically from the coordinated strike on its nuclear sites in June.

He was speaking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to enrich uranium domestically that it will always maintain" – the main reason of the deadlock in the earlier negotiations.

Previous Negotiations Suddenly Ended

The earlier sessions of talks between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and hostile conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, attacked Tehran's atomic facilities in a two-week conflict that ended with the American leader asserting the locations had been eliminated. Following this, Western states employed their authority to reimpose UN-wide sanctions, but Iran maintains they have not had a major impact.

Magic Solution Suggested

Iran's diplomats claimed they felt they had achieved a "ideal resolution" to the uranium processing matter in prior discussions, when it was agreed an domestic cooperative with US participation could process nuclear material. Each party would have been able to declare success since local refinement would have persisted and the US could be assured that Iran's nuclear programme was entirely non-military.

It had not been agreed in the discussions that American atomic experts could operate within Iranian territory, but that was a logical implication of the cooperative offer. Representatives stated three times they had achieved a deal with Trump's special envoy the American negotiator only for the agreement to disintegrate due to "detractors in America".

Current Position

Iranian officials stated the consortium offer was now off the table, but it seems highly likely the offer could be resurrected in various formats if discussions reopen.

The US president last week claimed he had been getting signals that Iran sought to reopen negotiations, but confidentially Tehran representatives claim they are not yet getting consistent overtures from Washington either explicitly or from significant local go-betweens, such as Qatar, Egypt, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Iran's state department has been criticized of passivity in the aftermath of the US president's straightforward manner, but Iran asserts diplomacy is not part of a spectacle.

Diplomatic Stance

In his speech to the forum, designed to portray the US as a controlling nation that abuses the notion of worldwide standards, Araghchi said the two-week conflict showed the dispute could not be resolved by combat operations. He asserted the assaults began with a Washington's ultimatum for an total Iran submission and concluded with an unconditional call for a ceasefire.

Iran is convinced the first strikes by Israel were executed with complete American awareness and cooperation, making trust hard to rebuild.

Negotiations Remains the Primary Answer

Araghchi stated: "It was not Iran that had fled diplomacy; it was the United States and the European states that had consistently tried to impose their will during the discussions. Negotiations can still be viable and continues the final resolution to address conflicts, but its requirements, guidelines and principles must be respected."

"Provided that they speak to the nation of Iran with the tone of respect and honor, they will get a answer in the equivalent approach."

Repair and Rebuilding

In what is characterized by Iran's diplomats as the battle of repair and reconstruction, the foreign minister stated he was assured Iran's military capacities "are much stronger than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been reestablished. We gained many lessons from this engagement; we have identified our own weaknesses and the shortcomings of the adversary."

He stated: "We effectively endured this war. Our enrichment knowledge, which they planned to destroy, remains in place. The facilities and machinery, if destroyed, will be rebuilt; what is crucial is the resolve of the citizens of Tehran and then the social solidarity that they targeted, but did not succeed to destroy. The Iranian people have grown more powerful, more cohesive, and more backing of the leadership and the nation in the face of this attack."

Lindsey Scott MD
Lindsey Scott MD

An avid hiker and nature writer sharing trail experiences and outdoor tips to inspire exploration and conservation.