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.”
In the meantime, they said they would “continue to pursue diplomatic routes and negotiations”.
They cited Iran’s failure to “take the necessary actions to address our concerns, nor to meet our asks on extension, despite extensive dialogue”.
Specifically, they mentioned Tehran’s refusal to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“Iran has not authorised IAEA inspectors to regain access to Iran’s nuclear sites, nor has it produced and transmitted to the IAEA a report accounting for its stockpile of high-enriched uranium,” the statement read.
Iran suspended IAEA inspections after Israel and the US bombed several of its nuclear sites and military bases in June.
Under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran is legally obliged to allow inspections of its nuclear sites, and on Friday the IAEA confirmed that they had resumed.
But while Iran has been in talks with the IAEA to find a way forward, it has also warned that a return of sanctions would put that in jeopardy.
Pezeshkian has walked back from his earlier threats of Iran quitting the Non-Proliferation Treaty altogether.
However, speaking to reporters on Friday, he said Tehran would need reassurances that its nuclear facilities would not be attacked by Israel in order to normalise its nuclear enrichment programme.
He also rejected a US demand to hand over all of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium in return for a three-month exemption from sanctions, saying: “Why would we put ourselves in such a trap and have a noose around our neck each month?”
Iran said on Saturday that it was recalling its ambassadors to the UK, France and Germany for consultations.