Mohammad Eslami said Iran has not made itself dependent on the negotiations, adding that the Islamic Republic and the other parties to the Vienna talks have discussed technical issues in the Austrian capital.
Iran and the P4+1 group of countries- Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany- announced a pause in their negotiations before the Persian New Year. They did not explicitly specify the reason for the pause.
Western governments including the US pinned the blame on Russia, saying Moscow wants its economic ties with Iran to be shielded from any Ukraine-related Western sanctions.
But sources familiar with the matter say the main obstacle is the US refusal to remove all anti-Iran sanctions.
Iran says full sanctions removal is a red line for the country and it will not allow its red lines to be crossed.
