Britain, France and Germany on Thursday launched a 30-day process to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, a step likely to stoke tensions two months after Israel and the United States bombed Iran.

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 so-called “E3” to trigger the snapback mechanism.

The E3 feared they would otherwise lose the prerogative in mid-October to restore sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under a 2015 nuclear accord 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 cooperate fully with the U.N. nuclear watchdog

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