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, condemning 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, criticizing the deal - the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama, as flawed.
Talks between the three countries and Iran on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly earlier this week failed to produce a deal that would have delayed the sanctions being reimposed.
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.
They mentioned Iran's failure to take the necessary actions to address our concerns, nor to meet our asks on extension, despite extensive dialogue. Specifically, they cited Tehran's refusal to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.
SC Iran has not authorized IAEA inspectors access to its nuclear sites nor reported on its stockpile of high-enriched uranium. Though the IAEA confirmed they have resumed inspections, Iran has warned that sanctions could jeopardize this process.
Pezeshkian has since walked back earlier threats of Iran exiting the Non-Proliferation Treaty but insists that Tehran demands assurances against attacks on its nuclear facilities to normalize its nuclear enrichment. He has also rejected US demands for Iran to surrender its enriched uranium stockpile in exchange for sanctions relief.
As a response to the sanctions, Iran announced the recall of its ambassadors to Britain, France, and Germany for consultations.
