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Tehran is ready to reinitiate atomic discussions with Washington as long as it is handled with "respect" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has declared.

The Iranian diplomat declared exclusively dialogue worked, and shared fresh requests had come from intermediaries to reopen negotiations with the American leadership. He said Iran had zero unreported enrichment locations, and Iran was not yet able to allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to access bombed nuclear sites for security reasons.

Walking a Challenging Course

The foreign minister is navigating a challenging course since Iran does not want appear to be acting from a position of weakness, and he consistently maintained that Iran had emerged more powerful defensively and emotionally from the coordinated strike on its nuclear sites in June.

He was talking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to enrich uranium within its borders that it will never give up" – the primary cause of the deadlock in the previous talks.

Prior Talks Suddenly Ended

The prior phases of negotiations between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and bitter conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with US support, struck Tehran's atomic facilities in a 12-day war that culminated with the US president claiming the facilities had been obliterated. Following this, EU nations exercised their privilege to reinstate global restrictions, but Iran insists they have not had a significant effect.

Ideal Resolution Proposed

Iranian officials claimed they felt they had reached a "magic solution" to the uranium processing matter in prior discussions, when it was decided an Iran-based consortium with Washington's engagement could enrich uranium. The two nations would have been able to claim victory since home-based processing would have persisted and the US could be assured that Iran's enrichment initiative was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been decided in the discussions that Washington's technical specialists could operate within Iranian territory, but that was a natural consequence of the cooperative offer. Officials claimed three times they had reached agreement with the US representative the US official only for the deal to disintegrate due to "spoilers in Washington".

Current Status

Iranian officials stated the cooperative arrangement was now withdrawn, but it seems highly likely the offer could be revived in various formats if talks resume.

The US president last week said he had been obtaining communications that Iran desired to restart talks, but in private Iran's diplomats claim they are not yet receiving clear proposals from Washington either explicitly or from significant local go-betweens, such as the Qatari government, the Egyptian leadership, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Iran's state department has been accused of non-responsiveness in the aftermath of the US president's straightforward manner, but Tehran says negotiations is not part of a show.

Diplomatic Position

In his speech to the conference, designed to paint the US as a dominant force that misuses the notion of global regulations, the foreign minister stated the fortnight-long engagement showed the conflict could not be settled by military means. He asserted the attacks commenced with a US demand for an unconditional Iranian surrender and ended with an absolute demand for a ceasefire.

Iran is assured the initial Israeli attacks were mounted with full US knowledge and coordination, making faith difficult to restore.

Diplomacy Continues the Final Answer

Araghchi said: "Tehran was not the one that had deserted dialogue; it was America and the European states that had repeatedly sought to enforce their demands during the talks. Dialogue can still be active and remains the final resolution to resolve disputes, but its criteria, guidelines and tenets must be respected."

"If they address to the nation of Iran with the tone of dignity and honor, they will receive a reply in the equivalent tone."

Repair and Recovery

In what is described by Iranian officials as the struggle of recovery and reconstruction, Araghchi said 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 acquired many lessons from this war; we have come to know our internal vulnerabilities and the shortcomings of the adversary."

He continued: "We successfully passed this war. Our atomic expertise, which they intended to destroy, remains in place. The installations and gear, if damaged, will be rebuilt; what is essential is the determination of the nation of Iran and then the national cohesion that they targeted, but did not succeed to shatter. The Iranian people have developed more powerful, more integrated, and more backing of the administration and the nation in the wake of this attack."