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Tehran is ready to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States provided that it is handled with "respect" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has announced.

The Iranian diplomat said exclusively dialogue produced results, and revealed recent overtures had been made by intermediaries to restart talks with the US government. He said Iran did not have unreported enrichment locations, and Tehran was not yet able to authorize the global atomic watchdog to inspect attacked atomic facilities for safety concerns.

Walking a Complex Path

The foreign minister is walking a challenging path since Iran aims to avoid appear to be proceeding from a situation of vulnerability, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had emerged stronger defensively and emotionally from the Israeli-US attack on its enrichment centers in June.

He was speaking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to enrich uranium domestically that it will perpetually retain" – the main reason of the stalemate in the earlier negotiations.

Previous Negotiations Abruptly Ended

The previous five rounds of negotiations between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and acrimonious termination on 12 June when the Israeli government, with US support, struck Iran's enrichment centers in a two-week conflict that concluded with the American leader asserting the sites had been eliminated. Subsequently, Western states used their authority to restore UN-wide sanctions, but Iran maintains they have not had a significant effect.

Perfect Agreement Proposed

Tehran representatives claimed they felt they had achieved a "perfect agreement" to the enrichment issue in earlier negotiations, when it was agreed an Iran-based consortium with US participation could process nuclear material. The two nations would have been able to claim victory since domestic enrichment would have persisted and the US could be certain that Iran's nuclear programme was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been settled in the discussions that Washington's technical specialists could operate on Iranian soil, but that was a natural consequence of the consortium proposal. Representatives stated three times they had achieved a deal with Trump's special envoy the US official only for the arrangement to collapse due to "detractors in America".

Existing Situation

Tehran representatives declared the partnership proposal was now off the table, but it seems highly likely the proposal could be revived in some form if discussions reopen.

The US president recently claimed he had been getting signals that Iran sought to resume discussions, but confidentially Iran's diplomats say they are not yet getting coherent offers from Washington either straightforwardly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, Egypt, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of inactivity in the wake of the US president's straightforward manner, but Tehran asserts dialogue is not part of a spectacle.

Diplomatic Standpoint

In his remarks to the gathering, intended to portray the US as a dominant force that exploits the notion of international law, Araghchi declared the two-week conflict demonstrated the dispute could not be resolved by combat operations. He asserted the attacks started with a Washington's ultimatum for an unconditional Iranian surrender and culminated with an unconditional call for a truce.

Iran is assured the first strikes by Israel were mounted with total Washington understanding and coordination, making trust hard to rebuild.

Dialogue Continues the Final Solution

The foreign minister declared: "It was not Iran that had fled diplomacy; it was the United States and the western countries that had always sought to enforce their demands during the negotiations. Dialogue can still be alive and stays the final solution to resolve disagreements, but its criteria, rules and fundamentals must be adhered to."

"If they address to the citizens of Tehran with the tone of respect and respect, they will get a reply in the identical tone."

Recovery and Reconstruction

In what is characterized by Tehran representatives as the battle of restoration and recovery, Araghchi stated he was assured Iran's military capacities "are considerably enhanced than before 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been restored. We learned many lessons from this war; we have come to know our own weaknesses and the weaknesses of the opponent."

He continued: "We managed to survive this engagement. Our atomic expertise, which they intended to obliterate, remains in place. The facilities and equipment, if damaged, will be reconstructed; what is important is the resolve of the nation of Iran and then the social solidarity that they sought to undermine, but failed to break. The Iranian people have grown more resilient, more integrated, and more backing of the administration and the country in the wake of this assault."