TEHRAN — Iranian authorities have recently engaged in a series of calibrated diplomatic moves and shifted to a softened rhetoric, signaling willingness to resume nuclear diplomacy, which was frozen due to Israeli attacks on Iran's atomic facilities and military centers in June. 

Speaking before the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on Oct. 29, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — also Iran's chief nuclear negotiator — offered a striking statement: "Resolution 2231 has expired, but the JCPOA has not," he said, referring to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 

According to Iranian state media, Araghchi told the MPs that Iran's Supreme National Security Council has come to the conclusion that while the UN resolution endorsing the accord has run its course, the nuclear deal itself remains legally alive. "Since the JCPOA recognizes Iran's right to enrichment and remains valid under the Security Council framework, we decided not to declare withdrawal," he added, noting that some of the deal's provisions "remain beneficial to Iran."

The remarks come despite Iran's major setbacks from the June war, in which its key nuclear facilities were severely damaged under US and Israeli strikes. Last month, the JCPOA's European signatories triggered its snapback mechanism, reimposing a barrage of UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic that had been lifted as a significant dividend under the accord.