"The Islamic Republic of Iran will respond appropriately to this illegal and unjustified action by the three European countries, in order to protect and guarantee its national rights and interests," Araghchi told his French, British and German counterparts in a phone call, according to a statement from his ministry.

He called on the three countries to "appropriately correct this wrong decision in the coming days".

While Araghchi did not specify what retaliatory measures Iran might take, Tehran has previously warned that such a move could lead to the exclusion of the European powers from any future negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme.

The move by the European trio -- known as the E3 -- took place just days after Iranian and European diplomats held talks in Geneva, the second since Israel's attack on Iran that started a 12-day war in June.

The E3 had been threatening in recent weeks to activate the so-called "snapback" mechanism, citing Iran's continued non-compliance with its commitments under the 2015 nuclear agreement.

That deal was torpedoed in 2018 when Donald Trump, during his first term as president, unilaterally withdrew the United States and slapped crippling sanctions on Iran.

Tehran and Washington had begun nuclear talks in April with the aim of reaching another deal but these negotiations were derailed by the war with Israel, during which the United States also struck Iranian nuclear sites.