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France, Britain and Germany formally triggered the dispute mechanism in Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers on Tuesday, a step taken to enforce an agreement that requires Iran to curb its nuclear program. According to Reuters report, the European powers said they had taken the step to avoid a crisis over nuclear proliferation being added to an escalating confrontation in the Middle East.

In a statement, they said they still want the deal to succeed and were not joining a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran by the United States, which abandoned the deal in 2018 and has reimposed sanctions.

Triggering the dispute mechanism amounts to formally accusing Iran of violating the terms of the agreement and could lead eventually to the reimposition of U.N. sanctions that were lifted under the deal.

Iran has gradually rolled back its commitments under the accord since the United States quit, arguing that it has the right to do so because of Washington’s actions.