The three European signatories pledged to compensate the losses inflicted on Iran through devising the financial channel, officially known as the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX). The instrument has not become operational yet.
Speaking to reporters at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, the Spanish foreign minister said that Madrid strongly disagrees with the US extraterritorial sanctions against Iran.
Borrel, who is likely to succeed Federica Mogherini, the European Union Foreign Policy Chief, said that Europe was making all efforts to preserve the deal and called on Iran to return to its full commitments.
Recently, Tehran said that at the second phase of its measures to preserve the nuclear deal, it officially launches enriching uranium beyond the 3.67 percent limit that is set by the deal. The first stage came on the anniversary of the US withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018 when Iran announced the reduction of its commitments to the deal.
The Spanish minister also urged Europe to find a way to pull Iran out of the US extraterritorial sanctions.
Earlier, Jeremy Hunt, who was too in Brussels to attend the Council's meeting, confirmed that Europe is trying to save the nuclear deal which was signed between major global powers and Iran in 2015.
He said that there was a "small" but "closing window" to preserve the deal.
Before the meeting, Mogherini said that the options to convince Iran to come back to the deal will be discussed.
France, Germany and UK in a joint statement expressed concerns over the outlook of a failed nuclear deal.
"We believe that the time has come to act responsibly and to look for ways to stop the escalation of tension and resume dialogue," they said.
Europe has been criticized by Tehran for its inaction in face of the US unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said it was not enough that Europe expressed interest in the saving the deal, urging it to walk the talk.
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