IRAN'S supreme leader has strongly rejected proposals for direct talks with the US on its nuclear programme.
The statement posted on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's website marked his first reaction to the idea of holding the talks, a proposal that had been floated for months and was reinforced last week by US Vice President Joe Biden.
Momentum depended on Mr Khamenei, who has the final say in all key matters and has previously opposed direct negotiations.
In a statement, he said: "Talks will not solve any problems."
In an apparent reference to US sanctions over Iran's nuclear efforts, he added: "You are holding a gun against Iran saying you want to talk.
"The Iranian nation will not be frightened by the threats."
Iran and six world powers, including the US, are scheduled to resume nuclear negotiations later this month.
Talks last year ended in stalemate, with Tehran pushing for a rollback in sanctions in exchange for any key concessions on its programme.
The West and its allies fear Iran's uranium enrichment labs may eventually produce weapons-grade material.
The Islamic Republic says it only seeks nuclear fuel for energy reactors and medical applications.
The US and Iran broke ties after the storming of the American embassy in Tehran in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article