Britain, France and Germany on Thursday set off a 30-day process to reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, a step likely to spark tensions two months after Israel and the United States bombed Iran, reports Reuters.
A senior Iranian official quickly accused the three European powers of harming diplomacy and vowed that Tehran would not bow to pressure over the move by the E3 to launch the so-called "snapback mechanism".
The three powers were apprehensive that they would otherwise lose the prerogative in mid-October to reimpose sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the decision did not signal the end of diplomacy. His German counterpart Johann Wadephul urged Iran to now fully cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog agency and commit to direct talks with the US over the next month.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters the decision was "illegal and regrettable" but left the door open for engagement.
"The move is an action against diplomacy, not a chance for it. Diplomacy with Europe will continue," the official said, adding: "Iran will not concede under pressure."
The UN Security Council is due to meet behind closed doors on Friday at the request of the E3 to discuss the snapback move against the Islamic Republic, diplomats said.
Iran and the E3 have held several rounds of talks since Israel and the US bombed its nuclear installations in mid-June, aiming to agree to defer the snapback mechanism. But the E3 deemed that talks in Geneva on Tuesday did not yield sufficient signals of readiness for a new deal from Iran.
The E3 acted on Thursday over accusations that Iran has violated the 2015 deal that aimed to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapons capability in return for a lifting of international sanctions. The E3, along with Russia, China and the United States, were party to that accord.
US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of that accord in 2018 during his first term, calling the deal one-sided in Iran's favour, and it unravelled in ensuing years as Iran abandoned limits set on its enrichment of uranium.
Trump's second administration held fruitless indirect negotiations earlier this year with Tehran.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the E3 move and said Washington remained available for direct engagement with Iran "in furtherance of a peaceful, enduring resolution to the Iran nuclear issue".
The E3 said they hoped Iran would engage by the end of September to allay concerns about its nuclear agenda sufficiently for them to defer concrete action.
"The E3 are committed to using every diplomatic tool available to ensure Iran never develops a nuclear weapon," including the snapback mechanism, they said in a letter sent to the UN Security Council and seen by Reuters.
The E3 had offered to extend the snapback for as much as six months to enable serious negotiations if Iran restored access for U.N. nuclear inspectors - who would also seek to account for Iran's large stock of enriched uranium whose status has been unknown since the June war - and engages in talks with the U.S.
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