Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected US Secretary of State John Kerry’s pinning of blame on Iran for the lack of a deal on its nuclear programme last week, saying splits between Western powers prevented a breakthrough.

Responding to remarks by Kerry in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Zarif said that singling out Iran only served to undermine confidence in the Geneva negotiations, which will resume on November 20.

The US, European Union powers and Iran worked for months on a proposal to help end the 10-year standoff over Iran’s nuclear activity, diplomats said.

Hopes for a deal rose so high that foreign ministers of six world powers travelled to Geneva to put their weight behind the talks.

But by Saturday, the unscheduled third day of negotiations, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Paris could not accept a “fool’s game” - in other words, one-sided concessions to Iran - and the negotiations broke off.

Zarif denied the Islamic Republic was to blame.

“Mr Secretary, was it Iran that gutted over half of US draft Thursday night? and publicly commented against it Friday morning?” Zarif asked on Twitter.

“No amount of spinning can change what happened within (the group of powers) in Geneva from 6pm Thursday to 545pm Saturday. But it can further erode confidence,” he tweeted.

“We are committed to constructive engagement. Interaction on equal footing key to achieve shared objectives.”

The West is determined to stop Iran acquiring the means to build nuclear weapons, an intent Tehran denies having.