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Tehran is prepared to restart atomic negotiations with Washington as long as it is handled with "dignity" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has stated.

Abbas Araghchi stated solely negotiations worked, and disclosed new appeals had come from intermediaries to restart negotiations with the Trump administration. He asserted Iran possessed no secret atomic facilities, and Iran was not yet able to permit the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit struck enrichment centers for security reasons.

Navigating a Challenging Route

The foreign minister is walking a difficult path since Iran aims to avoid be perceived to be operating from a situation of weakness, and he consistently maintained that Iran had emerged more powerful militarily and emotionally from the coordinated strike on its enrichment centers in June.

He was addressing at a defense forum in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to refine atomic fuel on home soil that it will always maintain" – the main reason of the stalemate in the earlier negotiations.

Prior Discussions Unexpectedly Concluded

The prior phases of discussions between the US and Iran were ended suddenly and hostile conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, struck Tehran's atomic facilities in a two-week conflict that concluded with the US president claiming the sites had been destroyed. Subsequently, Western states used their privilege to reinstate UN-wide sanctions, but Iran insists they have not had a major impact.

Perfect Agreement Proposed

Iran's diplomats said they felt they had attained a "perfect agreement" to the enrichment issue in earlier negotiations, when it was decided an domestic cooperative with Washington's engagement could refine atomic fuel. Both sides would have been able to assert triumph since domestic enrichment would have remained and the US could be certain that Iran's atomic project was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been settled in the talks that American atomic experts could operate within Iranian territory, but that was a logical implication of the partnership suggestion. Representatives asserted on multiple occasions they had secured an understanding with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff only for the deal to fall apart due to "detractors in America".

Existing Status

Tehran representatives said the partnership proposal was now no longer available, but it seems very probable the offer could be resurrected in some form if talks resume.

The American leader recently stated he had been obtaining communications that Iran desired to resume discussions, but privately Iran's diplomats say they are not yet getting consistent overtures from America either explicitly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Iranian foreign ministry has been accused of non-responsiveness in the face of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Iran states negotiations is not part of a performance.

Political Standpoint

In his speech to the gathering, designed to paint the US as a hegemonic power that misuses the idea of international law, Araghchi stated the fortnight-long engagement revealed the clash could not be ended by combat operations. He stated the strikes commenced with a Washington's ultimatum for an total Iran submission and culminated with an absolute demand for a truce.

Iran is certain the opening assaults from Tel Aviv were carried out with total Washington understanding and cooperation, making trust difficult to rebuild.

Diplomacy Remains the Ultimate Answer

Araghchi said: "Tehran was not the one that had abandoned diplomacy; it was the United States and the European states that had repeatedly tried to dictate their desires during the talks. Negotiations can still be alive and continues the final answer to resolve disagreements, but its criteria, regulations and fundamentals must be followed."

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

Restoration and Rebuilding

In what is portrayed by Iranian officials as the battle of restoration and rebuilding, Araghchi said he was assured Iran's military capacities "have significantly improved than before 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been restored. We acquired numerous insights from this engagement; we have discovered our own weaknesses and the weaknesses of the enemy."

He stated: "We managed to survive this conflict. Our enrichment knowledge, which they aimed to destroy, continues to exist. The installations and machinery, if damaged, will be restored; what is crucial is the will of the nation of Iran and then the social solidarity that they sought to undermine, but failed to destroy. The citizens of Tehran have developed more powerful, more cohesive, and more backing of the government and the nation in the wake of this attack."