Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared on 24 August that the dispute with the United States is “unsolvable” and ruled out any direct negotiations with Washington. Speaking at a religious gathering in Tehran, he said the Iranian nation “will stand with all its power” against U.S. demands for obedience and warned that those who expect Tehran to submit “will face the full resistance of the Iranian people.” Khamenei’s remarks come as Iran and the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear accord—France, Britain and Germany—prepare to resume discussions aimed at reviving broader talks on curbing Tehran’s nuclear enrichment activities. Negotiations with the United States were suspended after U.S. and Israeli air-strikes damaged Iranian nuclear facilities during a 12-day conflict in June. European governments have threatened to trigger the accord’s snap-back mechanism and re-impose United Nations sanctions if Iran does not re-engage. Khamenei, however, accused Washington of seeking Iran’s surrender and dismissed domestic calls for direct talks as superficial, underscoring the gulf that still separates Tehran from its Western counterparts.