Iran's president has today warned that European soldiers 'could be in danger' in a threat to the West after Britain, France and Germany ramped up pressure on Tehran over the faltering nuclear deal.

Hassan Rouhani extended Iran's threats to Europe after the three nations triggered the pact's 'dispute resolution mechanism' over Iran's failure to comply with the deal.

'Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger,' Rouhani said.

Europe and Iran both say they want to save the deal but Tehran has been steadily abandoning its nuclear limits since Donald Trump pulled out of the pact in 2018.

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani (pictured) has today warned that European soldiers 'could be in danger' after Britain, France and Germany ramped up pressure over the nuclear deal

Europe and Iran both say they want to save the deal but Tehran has been steadily abandoning its nuclear limits since Donald Trump (pictured) pulled out of the pact in 2018

Rouhani today rejected a proposal for a new 'Trump deal' aimed at resolving a nuclear row, saying it was a 'strange' offer and criticising U.S. President Donald Trump for always breaking promises.

He rejected Boris Johnson's calls for a new nuclear deal renegotiated by Trump.

In a televised speech, Rouhani told Washington to return to the nuclear pact, which Washington abandoned in 2018, under which Tehran curbed its nuclear work in return for the lifting of international sanctions on Iran.

'This Mr Prime Minister in London, I don't know how he thinks. He says let's put aside the nuclear deal and put the Trump plan in action,' Rouhani said.

'If you take the wrong step, it will be to your detriment. Pick the right path. The right path is to return to the nuclear deal.'

Since quitting the agreement, Washington has reimposed sanctions to throttle Iran's oil exports as part of a 'maximum pressure' policy.

The United States says its aim is force Tehran to agree a broader deal that puts stricter limits on its nuclear work, curbs its ballistic missile program and ends its regional proxy wars. Iran says it will not negotiate as long as sanctions remain in place.

Tehran has gradually taken steps to reduce its compliance with the deal, which prompted Britain, France and Germany to formally accuse it on Tuesday of violating the terms.

'This Mr. Prime Minister in London, I don't know how he thinks. He says let's put aside the nuclear deal and put the Trump plan in action,' Rouhani said.

'If you take the wrong step, it will be to your detriment. Pick the right path. The right path is to return to the nuclear deal.'

Iran denies any intent to acquire nuclear weapons and says its breaches of the deal would be reversed if Washington lifts sanctions. 'All of our activities are under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA),' said Rouhani.

In another burst of angry rhetoric, an Iranian cleric called for the expulsion of UK ambassador Rob Macaire - saying he was better expelled than 'chopped into pieces'.

Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda said Mr Macaire's expulsion would be the 'best thing that can happen to him', according to the Eslahat news website.

Mr Macaire was arrested after attending a vigil for crash victims on Saturday, a move which sparked outrage from the UK government.

Iranian protesters have burned his effigy along with the British flag in recent protests.

Mr Macaire, who says he left the vigil when it boiled over into protests, has returned to London for talks.

The Foreign Office in London said it was a 'long-planned visit' and says he will be returning to Iran 'in the coming days'.

Britain, France and Germany activated a dispute mechanism in the nuclear deal on Tuesday, which eventually could lead to the reimposing of UN sanctions.

UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab told Parliament that Iran had ignored a series of restrictions on its nuclear production.

'Each of these actions were individually serious. Together, they now raise acute concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions,' he said.

Since quitting the deal in May 2018, Trump has reimposed sanctions on Iran that have crippled its economy.

Tehran says it wants to keep the agreement but cannot do so indefinitely if it receives none of the promised economic benefits.

Iranian protesters burn an effigy of UK ambassador Rob Macaire, who has been at the centre of a diplomatic row between Iran and Britain

Hassan Rouhani extended Iran's threats to Europe after the three nations triggered the pact's 'dispute resolution mechanism' over Iran's failure to comply with the deal (pictured: Rouhani inspecting nuclear facilities last year)

Iran has since taken a series of steps away from the deal in a bid to pressure European powers into helping it swerve the US sanctions.

On July 1, it said it had increased its stockpile of enriched uranium to beyond the 300-kilogram limit set by the agreement.

A week later, the Islamic Republic announced it had exceeded the deal's uranium enrichment level of 3.67 per cent.

Tehran had agreed that maximum enrichment level under the deal, which is far below the more than 90 per cent required for a nuclear weapon.

However, once a country enriches uranium to around 20 per cent, scientists say the time needed to reach 90 per cent is halved.

Tehran said it was abandoning the remaining limits earlier this month after the US drone strike which killed general Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.

At the time the deal was signed, it was feared that Iran's 'breakout time' to develop a nuclear weapon could be as low as two months.

With the safeguards in place, it is now believed that Iran is at least a year away from acquiring such a weapon.

Iran continues to insist that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Reuters that the deal was still alive: 'No, it's not dead. It's not dead,' Zarif said on the sidelines of a conference in New Delhi.

But he told the conference Trump's withdrawal from the earlier deal made new negotiations with Washington pointless: 'I had a U.S. deal and the U.S. broke it. If I have a Trump deal, how long will it last?'

In its biggest step away from the agreement yet, Iran announced on January 5 it would abandon all limitations on enriching uranium set down in the pact.

Britain, France and Germany reacted by activating a dispute mechanism in the deal on Tuesday, which eventually could lead to the reimposing of U.N. sanctions. Iran called this step a 'strategic mistake'.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Washington now expects the U.N. sanctions to 'snap back into place' as a result of the European move. The European countries have said that is not their goal.

Rouhani upbraided European powers for not standing up to Trump. Iran says the Europeans have reneged on promises to find ways to circumvent the U.S. sanctions.

The flare-up in nuclear diplomacy comes as military confrontation between Washington and Tehran has also reached a new peak.

The United States killed an Iranian general in a drone strike in Baghdad on January 3.

Tehran responded a week ago by launching missiles at U.S. targets in Iraq. No Americans were hurt, but hours later Iran shot down a Ukrainian airliner in what its authorities have acknowledged as a tragic mistake, prompting anti-government protests at home.

Rouhani repeated Iran's longstanding position that peace can come to the Middle East only when the United States withdraws.

'American soldiers today are not secure in the region ... We donâ€™t want there to be insecurity in the world. We want you to go from here, but not with war. We want you to leave the region intelligently and it's to your benefit,' Rouhani said.