Iran's supreme leader rejects direct nuclear talks with US as European
negotiations remain unmoved
[September 24, 2025]
By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN, JON GAMBRELL and FARNOUSH
AMIRI
VIENNA (AP) — Iran's supreme leader on Tuesday rejected direct
negotiations with the United States over his country's nuclear program,
likely slamming the door shut on a last-ditch effort to halt the
reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Tehran.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's remarks, aired on Iranian state television,
likely constrain any possible outreach to the U.S. by Iranian President
Masoud Pezeshkian, who is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly.
Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held meetings there
with diplomats from France, Germany and Britain over the reimposition of
the sanctions, set to take effect Sunday.
Talks with the U.S. represent “a sheer dead end,” Khamenei said.
“The U.S. has announced the results of the talks in advance," he added.
"The result is the closure of nuclear activities and enrichment. This is
not a negotiation. It is a diktat, an imposition.”
The German Foreign Office, in comments posted on X after the meeting
with Araghchi, said that France, Germany, Britain and the EU urged Iran
to take steps within days, “if not hours,” to address concerns over its
nuclear program. It should resume direct talks with the U.S. and provide
the International Atomic Energy Agency with access to all its nuclear
sites, ”in line with its obligations," the statement said.
The three European countries, known as the E3, triggered the so-called
“snapback” mechanism to reinstate sanctions — barring a last-minute
accord — over Iran's failure to comply with conditions of a 2015 nuclear
deal aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
The meeting Tuesday did not appear to move closer to a resolution before
Saturday’s deadline. But a French diplomat said that the European
leaders plan to make “full use” of the remaining time. The diplomat
spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
publicly discuss the private meeting.
The German Foreign Office said “diplomatic engagement” would continue
even if sanctions are reimposed Sunday.
Earlier, Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul had described the
chance of reaching an agreement with Iran by the weekend “extremely
slim," the German news agency dpa had reported, even before Khamenei’s
comments.
In his speech late Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said the
Middle East region can only be at peace if Iran’s nuclear program “is
once again fully under control.”
“The next steps to come will be decisive,” he said, adding that he’s
willing to meet with Iran’s president this week to secure a deal.
Iran has stopped inspectors, refused US talks
Amid a flurry of diplomatic engagements, Araghchi on Monday also met
with Rafael Grossi, the IAEA director-general, in New York.
Earlier this month, the U.N. nuclear watchdog and Iran signed an
agreement mediated by Egypt to pave the way for resuming cooperation,
including on ways of relaunching inspections of Iran’s nuclear
facilities. However, that agreement has yet to fully take hold.
In July, Pezeshkian had signed a law adopted by his country’s parliament
suspending all cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog. That followed
Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June, during which Israel and the U.S.
bombed Iranian nuclear sites.
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In this photo released on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, by an official
website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a televised speech. (Office of the
Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
France, Germany and the U.K. began the process of reimposing
sanctions on Iran at the end of August.
The process — termed a “snapback” by the diplomats who negotiated it
into Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers — was designed to be
veto-proof at the U.N. It started a 30-day clock ticking for the
resumption of sanctions unless the West and Iran reach a diplomatic
agreement.
European nations have said they would be willing to extend the
deadline if Iran resumes direct negotiations with the U.S. over its
nuclear program, allows U.N. nuclear inspectors access to its
nuclear sites, and accounts for the more than 400 kilograms (880
pounds) of highly enriched uranium the U.N. watchdog says it has.
Iran is the only nation in the world that enriches uranium up to
60%, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels, that does
not have a weapons program.
If no diplomatic deal is found this week, the sanctions will
automatically “snapback” on Sunday. That would again freeze Iranian
assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any
development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other
measures, further squeezing the country’s reeling economy.
Khamenei made a point in his roughly half-hour speech to say his
comments focused only on America, not on Europe.
Iran maintains its atomic program is peaceful
Iran has long insisted its program is peaceful, though Western
nations and the IAEA assess that Tehran had an active nuclear
weapons program until 2003. Khamenei again pledged that Iran does
not seek atomic bombs.
“We do not have a nuclear bomb and we will not have one, and we do
not plan to use nuclear weapon,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew America from
the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, made a point to reference Tehran in
his speech before the U.N. on Tuesday. He recounted writing a letter
to Khamenei seeking talks. U.S. and Iranian negotiators met five
times before the 12-day war in June.
“There is no more serious danger to our planet today than the most
powerful and destructive weapons ever devised by man, of which the
United States, as you know, has many,” Trump said. "I’ve made
containing these threats a top priority, starting with (the) nation
of Iran."
However, Khamenei stressed that Israeli and American attacks would
not destroy the nuclear knowledge gained by Iran over the decades
over the crisis surrounding the program.
“Science will not be demolished by threats and bombing," he vowed.
___
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Amiri
reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writer Nasser
Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
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