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Iran is ready to restart nuclear negotiations with Washington provided that it is treated with "respect" and "honor", Tehran's top diplomat has stated.

The Iranian diplomat said only diplomacy produced results, and revealed recent overtures had come from intermediaries to restart discussions with the American leadership. He asserted Iran had zero unreported enrichment locations, and Iran had not yet reached a point to permit the International Atomic Energy Agency to access attacked atomic facilities for protective measures.

Navigating a Complex Route

Araghchi is navigating a difficult route since Iran aims to avoid be perceived to be operating from a position of vulnerability, and he emphatically stated that Iran had come out more powerful militarily and mentally from the coordinated strike on its enrichment centers in June.

He was addressing at a defense forum in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to refine atomic fuel on home soil that it will perpetually retain" – the key factor of the stalemate in the prior discussions.

Previous Discussions Suddenly Ended

The prior phases of negotiations between the US and Iran were ended suddenly and bitter end on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, targeted Iran's enrichment centers in a two-week conflict that concluded with the US president declaring the facilities had been destroyed. Subsequently, Western states used their authority to reimpose global restrictions, but Iran asserts they have not had a major impact.

Magic Solution Proposed

Iranian officials stated they felt they had attained a "perfect agreement" to the uranium processing matter in previous talks, when it was agreed an Iran-based consortium with American involvement could process nuclear material. Each party would have been able to declare success since home-based processing would have persisted and the US could be certain that Iran's nuclear programme was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been agreed in the discussions that Washington's technical specialists could operate within Iranian territory, but that was a reasonable assumption of the partnership suggestion. Diplomats claimed repeatedly they had achieved a deal with the US representative the American negotiator only for the agreement to fall apart due to "opponents in the US".

Existing Position

Tehran representatives said the partnership proposal was now off the table, but it seems highly likely the proposal could be resurrected in various formats if discussions resume.

Trump recently claimed he had been receiving messages that Iran desired to restart talks, but privately Iranian officials say they are not yet getting consistent overtures from the United States either straightforwardly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, 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 Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran says diplomacy is not part of a spectacle.

Negotiating Stance

In his speech to the conference, intended to depict the US as a controlling nation that abuses the idea of global regulations, the foreign minister declared the 12-day war demonstrated the conflict could not be resolved by armed force. He asserted the strikes began with a American requirement for an complete Tehran capitulation and concluded with an unconditional call for a truce.

Iran is convinced the first strikes by Israel were executed with full US knowledge and cooperation, making trust difficult to reestablish.

Negotiations Continues the Ultimate Answer

Araghchi declared: "It was not Iran that had fled diplomacy; it was America and the Western nations that had always sought to dictate their desires during the talks. Diplomacy can still be active and stays the primary solution to settle disagreements, but its standards, guidelines and principles must be adhered to."

"In case they speak to the nation of Iran with the tone of respect and honor, they will get a response in the identical language."

Repair and Recovery

In what is portrayed by Iran's diplomats as the conflict of repair and rebuilding, Araghchi said he was confident Iran's military capacities "are much stronger than prior to 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been reestablished. We learned many lessons from this war; we have come to know our own weaknesses and the vulnerabilities of the adversary."

He continued: "We effectively endured this engagement. Our enrichment knowledge, which they intended to obliterate, remains in place. The facilities and gear, if damaged, will be restored; what is crucial is the resolve of the Iranian people and then the social solidarity that they sought to undermine, but did not succeed to break. The citizens of Tehran have become more resilient, more integrated, and more backing of the administration and the country in the wake of this assault."