US ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft (First from left) chairs a UNSC meeting in New York on December 11, 2019 (Photo: AFP/VNA)

France, Germany and the UK issued a joint statement on Thursday saying that they cannot support the US in seeking to reimpose sanctions on Iran. The US sent a letter to the UN Security Council on Thursday requesting to initiate the "snapback" mechanism, which allows a participant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) to seek the reimposition against Iran of the multilateral sanctions lifted in 2015, adopted by the UN Security Council. The US ceased to be a participant to the JCPoA following their withdrawal from the deal in 2018, thus the 3 countries said they cannot support this action which is incompatible with their current efforts to support the JCPoA, the statement noted.