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Iran is prepared to resume nuclear talks with the United States as long as it is treated with "respect" and "honor", Tehran's foreign minister has declared.

The Iranian diplomat stated only diplomacy worked, and disclosed new appeals had come from intermediaries to restart talks with the American leadership. He said Iran had zero secret atomic facilities, and Tehran was not yet able to authorize the UN nuclear inspectorate to visit attacked atomic facilities for safety concerns.

Navigating a Challenging Course

Araghchi is walking a difficult route since Iran wishes not to be perceived to be proceeding from a situation of vulnerability, and he insisted repeatedly that Iran had emerged more resilient defensively and emotionally from the coordinated strike on its nuclear sites in June.

He was speaking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to process nuclear material domestically that it will perpetually retain" – the main reason of the stalemate in the earlier negotiations.

Prior Talks Suddenly Ended

The prior phases of discussions between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and acrimonious end on 12 June when the Israeli government, with American backing, attacked Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war that concluded with Donald Trump claiming the facilities had been destroyed. Subsequently, Western states employed their privilege to restore UN-wide sanctions, but Iran asserts they have not had a significant effect.

Magic Solution Proposed

Iran's diplomats said they felt they had attained a "magic solution" to the enrichment issue in prior discussions, when it was decided an Iran-based consortium with American involvement could process nuclear material. The two nations would have been able to claim victory since home-based processing would have remained and the US could be confident that Iran's nuclear programme was entirely non-military.

It had not been agreed in the discussions that US nuclear scientists could function on Iranian soil, but that was a reasonable assumption of the cooperative offer. Officials claimed on multiple occasions they had reached agreement with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff only for the arrangement to disintegrate due to "opponents in the US".

Present Situation

Iran's diplomats declared the consortium offer was now off the table, but it seems highly likely the suggestion could be revived in certain ways if discussions reopen.

The American leader last week said he had been obtaining communications that Iran wanted to reopen negotiations, but privately Tehran representatives state they are not yet obtaining consistent overtures from the United States either directly or from significant local go-betweens, such as Qatar, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Tehran's diplomatic corps has been charged of non-responsiveness in the wake of the US president's straightforward manner, but Tehran asserts dialogue is not part of a show.

Diplomatic Stance

In his remarks to the gathering, designed to depict the US as a dominant force that abuses the notion of international law, the foreign minister stated the 12-day war demonstrated the clash could not be ended by armed force. He said the strikes commenced with a Washington's ultimatum for an unconditional Iranian surrender and concluded with an complete request for a halt to hostilities.

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

Diplomacy Continues the Primary Resolution

Araghchi said: "Tehran was not the one that had fled dialogue; it was the United States and the European states that had always sought to dictate their demands during the negotiations. Dialogue can still be active and remains the primary solution to address conflicts, but its standards, guidelines and fundamentals must be respected."

"Provided that they address to the citizens of Tehran with the approach of dignity and respect, they will obtain a response in the equivalent approach."

Repair and Reconstruction

In what is characterized by Iranian officials as the battle of recovery and rebuilding, Araghchi stated he was assured Iran's defence capabilities "are much stronger than before 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been restored. We learned many lessons from this war; we have discovered our personal limitations and the shortcomings of the adversary."

He added: "We managed to survive this engagement. Our nuclear technology, which they aimed to obliterate, remains in place. The installations and equipment, if damaged, will be reconstructed; what is crucial is the will of the nation of Iran and then the national cohesion that they aimed at, but were unable to break. The Iranian people have developed stronger, more cohesive, and more endorsing of the government and the country in the wake of this assault."