Iran: Sanctions make nuclear talks with U.S. futile

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – American proposals for direct talks with Iran are pointless while Washington is “holding a gun” to the country through sanctions, Iran’s supreme leader said Thursday, quashing a possible breakthrough in contacts with the West over the nuclear standoff.

The message from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all major decisions in Iran, was reiterated by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a news conference in Cairo later in the day.

Their dismissal of one-on-one dialogue raises the stakes when wider negotiations between Iran and world powers, including th...