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Tehran is prepared to restart atomic negotiations with Washington as long as it is handled with "dignity" and "respect", Iran's foreign minister has announced.

The Iranian diplomat said exclusively dialogue produced results, and disclosed new appeals had originated from intermediaries to reopen talks with the American leadership. He said Iran possessed no secret atomic facilities, and Tehran had not yet reached a point to permit the UN nuclear inspectorate to visit bombed nuclear sites for protective measures.

Walking a Complex Path

Araghchi is walking a difficult course since Iran wishes not to be seen to be acting from a situation of weakness, and he emphatically stated that Iran had arisen more powerful militarily and psychologically from the Israeli-US attack on its atomic facilities in June.

He was talking at a strategic meeting in Tehran where he restated that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to process nuclear material on home soil that it will always maintain" – the main reason of the deadlock in the earlier negotiations.

Prior Talks Suddenly Ended

The earlier sessions of negotiations between the US and Iran were brought to an abrupt and hostile termination on 12 June when the Israeli government, with US support, attacked Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war that concluded with the American leader asserting the sites had been eliminated. Afterward, European countries used their authority to reinstate international penalties, but Iran maintains they have not had a significant effect.

Magic Solution Suggested

Tehran representatives claimed they felt they had achieved a "ideal resolution" to the uranium processing matter in prior discussions, when it was agreed an domestic cooperative with US participation could refine atomic fuel. Each party would have been able to declare success since local refinement would have continued and the US could be assured that Iran's nuclear programme was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been settled in the talks that American atomic experts could function inside Iran, but that was a logical implication of the partnership suggestion. Diplomats asserted repeatedly they had achieved a deal with the US representative the American negotiator only for the agreement to collapse due to "opponents in the US".

Current Situation

Tehran representatives said the consortium offer was now no longer available, but it seems quite possible the offer could be resurrected in some form if negotiations reopen.

The American leader last week said he had been obtaining communications that Iran sought to reopen negotiations, but privately Tehran representatives claim they are not yet receiving clear proposals from America either directly or from significant local go-betweens, such as Qatar, Egypt, the Omani authorities and the Saudi kingdom. The Iranian foreign ministry has been criticized of passivity in the face of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Tehran asserts dialogue is not part of a show.

Political Stance

In his speech to the forum, intended to paint the US as a dominant force that exploits the concept of international law, Araghchi said the fortnight-long engagement revealed the conflict could not be resolved by combat operations. He asserted the attacks began with a US demand for an complete Tehran capitulation and ended with an unconditional call for a halt to hostilities.

Iran is assured the initial Israeli attacks were mounted with total Washington understanding and collaboration, making confidence difficult to reestablish.

Negotiations Continues the Final Solution

The foreign minister stated: "It was not Iran that had fled negotiations; it was the United States and the western countries that had repeatedly attempted to enforce their will during the discussions. Diplomacy can still be active and continues the primary solution to address conflicts, but its requirements, guidelines and principles must be adhered to."

"In case they talk to the citizens of Tehran with the tone of dignity and respect, they will receive a reply in the same language."

Recovery and Rebuilding

In what is described by Iran's diplomats as the struggle of restoration and rebuilding, Araghchi claimed he was assured Iran's security strengths "are much stronger than before 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been reestablished. We learned multiple understandings from this engagement; we have discovered our personal limitations and the vulnerabilities of the adversary."

He added: "We managed to survive this conflict. Our enrichment knowledge, which they aimed to destroy, continues to exist. The installations and equipment, if damaged, will be reconstructed; what is crucial is the determination of the nation of Iran and then the national cohesion that they sought to undermine, but were unable to destroy. The citizens of Tehran have grown more powerful, more integrated, and more backing of the administration and the country in the wake of this invasion."