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Iran is prepared to resume nuclear discussions with Washington as long as it is approached with "respect" and "honor", Iran's top diplomat has declared.

The Iranian diplomat said only diplomacy worked, and shared fresh requests had been made by go-betweens to resume talks with the US government. He claimed Iran had zero secret atomic facilities, and Tehran was not yet able to allow the UN nuclear inspectorate to access attacked atomic facilities for security reasons.

Walking a Challenging Path

The foreign minister is navigating a challenging path since Iran aims to avoid be seen to be acting from a position of disadvantage, and he consistently maintained that Iran had emerged more powerful in military terms and psychologically from the coordinated strike on its enrichment centers in June.

He was talking at a security conference in Tehran where he reiterated that Iran had "an inalienable right to process nuclear material domestically that it will never give up" – the main reason of the impasse in the previous talks.

Prior Negotiations Abruptly Concluded

The previous five rounds of negotiations between the United States and Iran were concluded unexpectedly and bitter conclusion on 12 June when Israel, with American backing, targeted Iran's enrichment centers in a two-week conflict that ended with Donald Trump asserting the facilities had been destroyed. Afterward, Western states used their authority to restore global restrictions, but Iran asserts they have not had a major impact.

Perfect Agreement Proposed

Iran's diplomats claimed they felt they had reached a "perfect agreement" to the enrichment issue in earlier negotiations, when it was agreed an local partnership with US participation could refine atomic fuel. The two nations would have been able to declare success since home-based processing would have remained and the US could be assured that Iran's nuclear programme was solely for peaceful purposes.

It had not been decided in the talks that American atomic experts could function on Iranian soil, but that was a logical implication of the consortium proposal. Diplomats claimed three times they had secured an understanding with Washington's diplomat the American negotiator only for the agreement to disintegrate due to "spoilers in Washington".

Present Position

Iran's diplomats said the consortium offer was now no longer available, but it seems highly likely the offer could be reintroduced in some form if talks restart.

Trump last week said he had been getting signals that Iran sought to resume discussions, but confidentially Tehran representatives say they are not yet receiving coherent offers from America either directly or from significant local go-betweens, such as Qatar, the Egyptian leadership, the Omani authorities and the Saudi kingdom. The Tehran's diplomatic corps has been charged of non-responsiveness in the face of Trump's direct instinctive approach, but Iran asserts diplomacy is not part of a show.

Political Standpoint

In his speech to the forum, intended to portray the US as a dominant force that abuses the concept of international law, Araghchi stated the fortnight-long engagement revealed the clash could not be settled by military means. He stated the strikes started with a American requirement for an complete Tehran capitulation and culminated with an complete request for a halt to hostilities.

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

Diplomacy Remains the Final Solution

The foreign minister said: "Tehran was not the one that had deserted negotiations; it was America and the western countries that had always attempted to dictate their demands during the discussions. Diplomacy can still be viable and continues the final answer to settle disputes, but its standards, regulations and tenets must be respected."

"In case they address to the citizens of Tehran with the approach of dignity and respect, they will get a reply in the equivalent language."

Repair and Recovery

In what is described by Tehran representatives as the battle of repair and rebuilding, Araghchi claimed he was assured Iran's security strengths "are much stronger than preceding 13 or 14 June of this year. All our capabilities have been reestablished. We acquired many lessons from this engagement; we have come to know our own weaknesses and the vulnerabilities of the enemy."

He stated: "We successfully passed this war. Our atomic expertise, which they planned to eliminate, stays intact. The facilities and machinery, if damaged, will be reconstructed; what is important is the determination of the Iranian people and then the national cohesion that they sought to undermine, but were unable to shatter. The nation of Iran have become more powerful, more integrated, and more backing of the government and the state in the face of this attack."