Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief | Sean Gallup/Getty Images Europe vows to uphold Iran nuclear deal as Trump raises pressure As US cancels waivers for oil purchases, France, Germany and UK insist accord is working.

European powers vowed Saturday to uphold the Iran nuclear accord in response to Washington cancelling waivers that had allowed a small group of countries to continue buying Iranian oil despite the reimposition of U.S. sanctions.

"We, the High Representative of the European Union and the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, take note with regret and concern of the decision by the United States not to extend waivers with regards to trade in oil with Iran," the European guarantors of the nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), wrote in a strongly worded statement.

The statement was issued by the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, and the foreign ministers, Jean-Yves Le Drian of France, Heiko Maas of Germany, and Jeremy Hunt of the U.K.

"We also note with concern the decision by the United States not to fully renew waivers for nuclear non-proliferation projects in the framework of the JCPOA," they added.

In recent days, the Trump administration cancelled all of the waivers for oil purchases as well as two of seven waivers that had been granted for business related to Iran's civilian nuclear program. The waivers had been granted to China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece.

The U.S. move, combined with continuing political turmoil in Venezuela, has raised concerns about a spike in oil prices, which have already risen in response to President Donald Trump's decision.

Trump pulled out of the agreement, which is still supported by the Europeans, Russia and China, and unilaterally reimposed economic sanctions. The EU regards those sanctions as illegitimate and inapplicable to EU countries, and has been working to find ways around them.

"The lifting of nuclear-related sanctions is an essential part of the JCPOA — it aims at having a positive impact not only on trade and economic relations with Iran, but most importantly on the lives of the Iranian people," the European officials wrote in their statement. "We deeply regret the reimposition of sanctions by the United States following their withdrawal from the JCPOA."

They added, "We remain deeply convinced that the JCPOA is key to increasing stability and security in the Middle East region. Together, we emphasize our continued commitment to the JCPOA, a crucial element of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and essential for our national and shared European security."

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, on behalf of Trump, has demanded that the Europeans abandon the JCPOA. The EU, along with France, Germany and the U.K., created a special purpose vehicle intended to facilitate legal business transactions with Iran. But most experts believe it will be difficult to overcome the U.S. measures because many companies will simply be too afraid of punishment by Washington to maintain business ties with Iran.