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Tehran is willing to resume atomic talks with Washington on condition that it is approached with "dignity" and "honor", Iran's foreign minister has announced.

The Iranian diplomat said exclusively dialogue produced results, and revealed fresh requests had originated from intermediaries to restart discussions with the Trump administration. He claimed Iran possessed no undeclared nuclear sites, and Tehran was not yet able to permit the UN nuclear inspectorate to access bombed nuclear sites for security reasons.

Navigating a Challenging Path

Araghchi is walking a difficult path since Iran wishes not to be perceived to be proceeding from a position of weakness, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had emerged stronger militarily and psychologically from the coordinated strike on its nuclear sites in June.

He was addressing at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "an absolute privilege to process nuclear material domestically that it will always maintain" – the primary cause of the deadlock in the earlier negotiations.

Previous Discussions Suddenly Terminated

The previous five rounds of negotiations between the US and Iran were concluded unexpectedly and acrimonious termination on 12 June when Israel, with US support, attacked Tehran's atomic facilities in a 12-day war that ended with the US president claiming the sites had been eliminated. Following this, European countries used their privilege to restore global restrictions, but Iran maintains they have not had a significant effect.

Perfect Agreement Suggested

Iran's diplomats said they felt they had attained a "perfect agreement" to the enrichment issue in prior discussions, when it was decided an Iran-based consortium with American involvement could refine atomic fuel. Both sides would have been able to assert triumph since local refinement would have persisted and the US could be assured that Iran's enrichment initiative was entirely non-military.

It had not been decided in the discussions that US nuclear scientists could work inside Iran, but that was a natural consequence of the consortium proposal. Officials stated three times they had reached agreement with the US representative the US official only for the agreement to collapse due to "opponents in the US".

Present Position

Iran's diplomats declared the consortium offer was now withdrawn, but it seems quite possible the proposal could be revived in some form if talks resume.

Trump recently stated he had been getting signals that Iran desired to resume discussions, but privately Iran's diplomats state they are not yet getting clear proposals from Washington either explicitly or from key regional mediators, such as the Qatari government, Egypt, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Iran's state department has been criticized of passivity in the face of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Tehran asserts negotiations is not part of a spectacle.

Negotiating Standpoint

In his remarks to the gathering, aimed to portray the US as a hegemonic power that abuses the concept of global regulations, the foreign minister declared the fortnight-long engagement showed the conflict could not be settled by military means. He said the assaults began with a US demand for an unconditional Iranian surrender and ended with an absolute demand for a halt to hostilities.

Iran is convinced the initial Israeli attacks were mounted with full US knowledge and cooperation, making trust difficult to rebuild.

Dialogue Stays the Primary Answer

The foreign minister said: "Tehran was not the one that had fled negotiations; it was America and the Western nations that had consistently attempted to dictate their desires during the talks. Diplomacy can still be alive and stays the primary resolution to settle disagreements, but its standards, regulations and tenets must be adhered to."

"Provided that they address to the Iranian people with the approach of respect and honor, they will receive a reply in the equivalent language."

Restoration and Reconstruction

In what is portrayed by Iran's diplomats as the struggle of restoration and reconstruction, Araghchi claimed he was confident Iran's military capacities "have significantly improved than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been restored. We gained numerous insights from this engagement; we have come to know our internal vulnerabilities and the vulnerabilities of the adversary."

He continued: "We managed to survive this war. Our nuclear technology, which they planned to destroy, remains in place. The installations and gear, if eliminated, will be rebuilt; what is crucial is the resolve of the nation of Iran and then the national cohesion that they aimed at, but were unable to break. The nation of Iran have developed stronger, more cohesive, and more backing of the leadership and the country in the aftermath of this assault."