TEHRAN, Iran – The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Iran does “not need” talks with America over its nuclear program because nothing would be gained, state television reported yesterday.

Ayatollah Khamenei, who has the final word on all state matters, did not give his position on a package of incentives offered by the West to persuade Iran to impose a long-term moratorium on the enrichment of uranium.

But he took a tough line on the final goal of the package: resuming negotiations that America hopes will persuade Iran to completely give up enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear generators or the material for nuclear warheads.

“Negotiations with the United States would have no benefit for us, and we do not need them,” state television quoted Ayatollah Khamenei as telling the president of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade.

He said Iran was willing to hold talks on its own terms, warning that the West can misuse the negotiating process to bar Tehran from what it considers its right to pursue enrichment.

“We do not negotiate with anybody on achieving and exploiting nuclear technology,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “But if they recognize our nuclear rights, we are ready to negotiate about controls, supervisions, and international guarantees.”

The White House press secretary, Tony Snow, said the Bush administration has heard varying responses from different quarters in Iran. He said Ayatollah Khamenei’s remarks were “ambiguous,” and the administration expects a formal response from Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, to the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana.

“We’re waiting for a consistent, official response,” Mr. Snow said.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s comments could be interpreted as an attempt to ease pressure from Iran’s hard-liners, who have demanded the government reject the package and who consider talks with America to be a surrender.

Earlier this year, Ayatollah Khamenei supported negotiations with Washington over stabilizing neighboring Iraq. In doing so, he overruled hardliners’ opposition, though the prospects of American-Iranian talks on Iraq have fallen apart since then.

Iran has yet to reply to the incentives package presented June 6. President Ahmadinejad said last week that the government would respond in mid-August,a timeline President Bush disapproves of.

If Iran accepts, America has offered to join European nations in multilateral talks with Tehran over a framework that will guarantee its nuclear program cannot produce weapons.

The package also offers the lifting of some American sanctions and other economic incentives, as well as a promise of American and European nuclear technology for Iran.

Washington’s offer to join talks was seen as a major concession since America lists Iran as a sponsor of international terrorism and there have been no diplomatic relations between the two countries since 1979.