Prospects of a possible US-Iran dialogue looked dimmer after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled out talks with American officials "at any level." During a speech in Tehran Sept. 17, Khamenei downplayed the impact of the US "maximum pressure" campaign that has sought to elicit a "change of behavior" from Tehran and a renegotiation of the 2015 nuclear deal, which the United States withdrew from in May 2018.
"Everyone should understand that this is a ploy," Khamenei said of the latest US outreach. Those offers, according to the Iranian supreme leader, are meant to prove that the US "maximum pressure" has succeeded. "The Iranian nation attaches zero value to that policy," he added, boasting about the "unanimous" voice of Iranian officials in rejection of dialogue with Americans.