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)By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN, JON GAMBRELL and FARNOUSH AMIRIIran'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. 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. 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.