Representatives of current council EU members Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Poland, as well as Estonia, an incoming member said in a statement on Thursday that the fulfilment of all nuclear related commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Iran nuclear deal remains fundamental to guaranteeing the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear programme, reports Xinhua news agency.
The statement of the six EU countries was read out by Joanna Wronecka, Poland's permanent representative to the UN, in the presence of her EU fellows, outside the Security Council chamber where its members had concluded a debate on nuclear non-proliferation.
"It is essential that intense diplomatic efforts continue and hard-won achievements are preserved and built upon," said Wronecka.
She said the six countries regret that the US, in addition to its withdrawal from the agreement, has re-imposed all its sanctions against Iran and decided not to extend waivers with regard to oil trade with the Islamic republic.
She said these actions of the US are contrary to the goals set out in the Iran nuclear deal and council Resolution 2231, which endorses the deal.
Meanwhile, the EU countries expressed regret about the "worrying steps" taken over the last few months by Iran to reduce its nuclear-related commitments under the deal, "as verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency".
"We strongly urge Iran to reverse these measures without any delay and refrain from taking further escalatory steps," Wronecka said.
( With inputs from IANS )