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Tehran is willing to resume atomic talks with Washington as long as it is handled with "dignity" and "honor", Iran's foreign minister has declared.

Abbas Araghchi stated only diplomacy worked, and disclosed recent overtures had been made by intermediaries to reopen talks with the American leadership. He claimed Iran possessed no secret atomic facilities, and Tehran could not yet authorize the global atomic watchdog to access struck enrichment centers for safety concerns.

Walking a Difficult Path

Araghchi is walking a complex route since Iran does not want appear to be operating from a position of weakness, and he emphatically stated that Iran had come out more powerful militarily and mentally from the coordinated strike on its nuclear sites in June.

He was speaking at a defense forum in Tehran where he reaffirmed that Iran had "a fundamental entitlement to process nuclear material within its borders that it will never give up" – the main reason of the stalemate in the earlier negotiations.

Previous Talks Suddenly Concluded

The prior phases of negotiations between the United States and Iran were brought to an abrupt and hostile conclusion on 12 June when the Israeli government, with US support, targeted Iranian nuclear sites in a 12-day war that concluded with Donald Trump claiming the locations had been eliminated. Afterward, European countries used their right to reinstate international penalties, but Iran asserts they have not had a substantial consequence.

Ideal Resolution Offered

Tehran representatives said they felt they had reached a "perfect agreement" to the enrichment issue in previous talks, when it was decided an Iran-based consortium with US participation could process nuclear material. Both sides would have been able to assert triumph since home-based processing would have continued and the US could be confident that Iran's nuclear programme was exclusively peaceful.

It had not been settled in the discussions that US nuclear scientists could function within Iranian territory, but that was a natural consequence of the consortium proposal. Officials stated repeatedly they had reached agreement with Trump's special envoy the American negotiator only for the agreement to disintegrate due to "spoilers in Washington".

Existing Situation

Iran's diplomats declared the consortium offer was now off the table, but it seems quite possible the proposal could be reintroduced in various formats if talks restart.

The US president recently stated he had been receiving messages that Iran desired to reopen negotiations, but in private Iran's diplomats say they are not yet obtaining clear proposals from the United States either straightforwardly or from key regional mediators, such as the Qatari government, Egypt, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian foreign ministry has been charged of non-responsiveness in the wake of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran asserts dialogue is not part of a performance.

Political Position

In his remarks to the conference, aimed to portray the US as a dominant force that abuses the idea of global regulations, Araghchi stated the fortnight-long engagement showed the dispute could not be ended by armed force. He stated the attacks commenced with a US demand for an total Iran submission and culminated with an complete request for a ceasefire.

Iran is convinced the first strikes by Israel were carried out with complete American awareness and cooperation, making confidence challenging to rebuild.

Dialogue Continues the Final Answer

Araghchi stated: "Tehran was not the one that had deserted negotiations; it was the United States and the Western nations that had always sought to dictate their demands during the talks. Diplomacy can still be alive and continues the final answer to resolve conflicts, but its standards, regulations and principles must be respected."

"Provided that they speak to the nation of Iran with the language of dignity and honor, they will get a reply in the same tone."

Repair and Reconstruction

In what is portrayed by Tehran representatives as the conflict of restoration and reconstruction, the foreign minister said he was confident Iran's military capacities "have significantly improved than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. Every aspect of our defense have been restored. We learned many lessons from this engagement; we have come to know our own weaknesses and the weaknesses of the adversary."

He added: "We effectively endured this engagement. Our atomic expertise, which they intended to destroy, remains in place. The facilities and machinery, if damaged, will be rebuilt; what is essential is the will of the Iranian people and then the national cohesion that they targeted, but did not succeed to shatter. The citizens of Tehran have become more resilient, more integrated, and more backing of the government and the nation in the aftermath of this attack."