In an interview with CGTN during his stay in China for a recent meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Araqchi outlined the preconditions for the resumption of negotiations about Iran’s peaceful nuclear program following the Israeli and US military attacks against the country’s nuclear facilities.

When asked about the “conflict” and situation following the Israeli and US strikes on Iran, Araqchi said, “It is not a conflict. It is an act of aggression by Israel against Iran. Unprovoked aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran. We had no way but to exercise our right of self-defense. So we defended our country. We defended it in a very courageous way. And we forced the aggressors to stop their aggression and ask for an unconditional ceasefire, which was accepted by us.”

“The ceasefire is, of course, fragile. The reason is obvious. I think there is no ceasefire made by the Israeli regime, and that regime has a very bad record on that.

The foreign minister said that while Iran does not wish for a resumption of hostilities, it is prepared the ceasefire is broken.

“We are very careful. We are fully prepared. If the ceasefire is broken, but this is not our wish. That was not our wish from the beginning. We didn’t want this war, but we were prepared for that. We don’t want this war to continue, but again, we are fully prepared for that.”

When discussing the potential for restarting nuclear talks with the United States, the top Iranian diplomat said, “We are not convinced yet that there is this real determination. At the same time, there should also be a real intention for a win-win solution. Our nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, and we are 100% confident in that. And we have no problem sharing this confidence with anybody else.”

“Is there any possibility of coming back to a negotiated deal? I think yes. But it needs, as I said, real serious determination by the US side to put aside the military option, go for a negotiated solution,” he said.

Araqchi noted that the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities last month showed that “there is no military option to deal with Iran’s nuclear program. There should be only a diplomatic solution.”

“And we are prepared for that only when they put aside their military ambitions, and they are compensating for what they have done to us. And then we can re-engage in negotiations,” he added.

Commenting on Iran’s interaction with the SCO, the foreign minister said, “Iran has joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a full member. We attach great importance to SCO and value its effort to find the proper place of countries of the south in the international arena.”

“And we all have a real intention to go down this path and address the security issues, economic issues, even cultural issues of the member states in a different way than Western countries usually address,” he said.

Asked about Iran’s expectations from the SCO, Araqchi said, “I have to say that we are very grateful to the SCO secretariat and each and every member state who condemned the act of aggression by the Israeli regime and the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran, particularly against the nuclear facilities of Iran.”

“We expect full support, political support, by the SCO summit, upcoming support for the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the foreign minister concluded.