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Tehran is prepared to reinitiate atomic discussions with Washington provided that it is handled with "dignity" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has declared.

Abbas Araghchi said only diplomacy worked, and disclosed recent overtures had originated from intermediaries to resume negotiations with the US government. He claimed Iran possessed no unreported enrichment locations, and Tehran had not yet reached a point to permit the global atomic watchdog to visit struck enrichment centers for security reasons.

Walking a Difficult Path

The foreign minister is treading a difficult course since Iran aims to avoid be perceived to be acting from a stance of vulnerability, and he consistently maintained that Iran had arisen more powerful militarily and emotionally from the joint assault on its atomic facilities in June.

He was talking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an absolute privilege to process nuclear material domestically that it will perpetually retain" – the key factor of the impasse in the earlier negotiations.

Prior Discussions Suddenly Terminated

The earlier sessions of talks between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and bitter end on 12 June when Israel, with US support, attacked Tehran's atomic facilities in a 12-day war that ended with the US president claiming the facilities had been obliterated. Subsequently, EU nations employed their right to reimpose global restrictions, but Iran insists they have not had a significant effect.

Perfect Agreement Proposed

Iranian officials said they felt they had reached a "perfect agreement" to the enrichment issue in earlier negotiations, when it was settled an local partnership with American involvement could process nuclear material. Both sides would have been able to assert triumph since local refinement would have continued and the US could be certain that Iran's nuclear programme was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been agreed in the negotiations that US nuclear scientists could work on Iranian soil, but that was a natural consequence of the partnership suggestion. Representatives claimed repeatedly they had achieved a deal with Washington's diplomat the American negotiator only for the deal to disintegrate due to "spoilers in Washington".

Current Situation

Iranian officials stated the cooperative arrangement was now withdrawn, but it seems very probable the proposal could be resurrected in various formats if discussions restart.

The American leader last week stated he had been obtaining communications that Iran wanted to restart talks, but privately Tehran representatives claim they are not yet obtaining clear proposals from Washington either directly or from important Middle Eastern intermediaries, such as Qatar, Egypt, Oman and the Saudi kingdom. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of passivity in the aftermath of Washington's unmediated tactics, but Tehran asserts diplomacy is not part of a show.

Diplomatic Standpoint

In his address to the conference, aimed to portray the US as a hegemonic power that abuses the concept of global regulations, the foreign minister declared the fortnight-long engagement showed the dispute could not be settled by combat operations. He said the strikes commenced with a American requirement for an total Iran submission and ended with an absolute demand for a ceasefire.

Iran is convinced the opening assaults from Tel Aviv were mounted with full US knowledge and coordination, making trust hard to reestablish.

Diplomacy Remains the Final Solution

Araghchi stated: "Tehran was not the one that had fled dialogue; it was America and the European states that had always attempted to dictate their will during the talks. Diplomacy can still be active and remains the final solution to resolve disputes, but its criteria, regulations and fundamentals must be adhered to."

"Provided that they speak to the Iranian people with the language of respect and honor, they will receive a answer in the same language."

Repair and Rebuilding

In what is described by Iran's diplomats as the struggle of repair and rebuilding, the foreign minister stated he was confident Iran's military capacities "are much stronger than before 13 or 14 June of this year. Our entire military infrastructure have been rebuilt. We gained many lessons from this war; we have discovered our personal limitations and the shortcomings of the enemy."

He added: "We successfully passed this conflict. Our nuclear technology, which they aimed to obliterate, remains in place. The facilities and equipment, if destroyed, will be reconstructed; what is crucial is the will of the nation of Iran and then the unity of the country that they targeted, but failed to shatter. The Iranian people have grown more resilient, more integrated, and more endorsing of the administration and the country in the aftermath of this invasion."