In brief
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the UK, France, and Germany cautioned Iran against escalating tensions after sweeping UN sanctions were reinstated due to the country's continued nuclear escalation. Iran's president denounced the sanctions as unfair while assuring they have no intention of developing nuclear weapons. The sanctions, reinstated after a decade, follow Iran's increased nuclear activity and lack of cooperation with the international community.
The UK, France and Germany have called on Iran not to escalate tensions and to pursue negotiations after UN sanctions were reinstated on Saturday.
The three countries said they had no choice but to bring back the sweeping measures against Tehran as a last resort over its continued nuclear escalation and lack of cooperation.
We urge Iran to refrain from any escalatory action, they said in a joint statement, adding: The reimposition of UN sanctions is not the end of diplomacy.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted last week that the country had no intention of developing nuclear weapons, and condemned the re-imposition of international sanctions as unfair, unjust, and illegal.
The United Nations' sweeping economic and military sanctions were reimposed on Iran at 00:00 GMT on Saturday - a decade after they were lifted in a landmark international deal over its nuclear programme.
Iran stepped up banned nuclear activity after the US quit the deal in 2016. Donald Trump pulled the US out in his first term as president, criticising the deal - the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama, as flawed.
In a joint statement early on Sunday, the foreign ministers of the three European countries, known as the E3, said: Given that Iran repeatedly breached these commitments, the E3 had no choice but to trigger the snapback procedure, at the end of which those resolutions were brought back into force.
Specifically, they mentioned Tehran's refusal to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, leading to concerns regarding its stockpile of high-enriched uranium.
As tensions mount, Iran has recalled its ambassadors to Britain, France and Germany for consultations, signifying a further strain in the already tenuous relations.
