India, Sept. 24 -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ruled out direct negotiations with the United States on its nuclear programme, calling the talks with the US a "dead end" that is not in the national interest of Iran.

Khamenei made the remarks during a televised address on Tuesday, right after Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi met with officials from Germany, France, and the United Kingdom and the foreign policy chief of the European Union Kaja Kallas on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to reach a deal to avert UN sanctions set to take effect on Iran from September 27 over its nuclear programme. Iran's top diplomat could not strike a deal with the European diplomats on Tuesday.

Khamenei, in his...