(CNN) France, Germany and the UK have triggered a dispute mechanism in the Iran nuclear deal that could lead to the further unraveling of the pact, just days after Tehran took another step back from some of its commitments under the landmark agreement.

The foreign ministers of the three European signatories to the nuclear pact issued a statement Tuesday, saying that while they remain committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the deal is formally known, the dispute mechanism outlined in Paragraph 36 had been activated.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement that the three countries "could no longer leave the growing Iranian violations of the nuclear agreement unanswered."

"After intensive consultations with France and Great Britain, we therefore decided to trigger the dispute settlement mechanism provided for in the agreement. Our goal is clear: we want to preserve the agreement and come to a diplomatic solution within the agreement," Maas said.

Iran's Foreign Ministry responded to the announcement by saying that it "will give decisive response to unconstructive actions by [the three countries]," Iran's state-run news Press TV reported.

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