Britain, France and Germany urged their European Union partners “to further step up the pressure” on Iran by adopting new sanctions to undermine its nuclear drive, in a joint letter reported by Agence France Presse on Monday, September 24. Foreign ministers of the three nations called on their E.U. counterparts to quickly agree on punitive action in the areas of energy, finance, trade and transportation, with sanctions set to be formally adopted October 15. The ministers said they believed previous E.U. sanctions had “had an enormous effect” – notably a damaging oil embargo that came into force on July 1 – particularly in helping bring Iran back to the negotiating table. “We must let Iran know that we have not exhausted our options,” they wrote. “There is also a real need for us to confirm and demonstrate our determination to partners in the region.”