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. 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. That followed Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June, during which Israel and the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites. 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. Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.