The Europeans said they were concerned about the resurgence of tensions between Washington and Tehran and told US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that there was a risk of an "accidental" conflict in the Gulf.
The US foreign minister made an unannounced visit to Brussels to discuss "urgent issues" with EU foreign ministers, especially Iran. Pompeo stopped in Brussels on his way to Russia.
Washington accuses Tehran of preparing imminent attacks on American interests in the Middle East.
The talks between the Europeans and Pompeo were difficult, France Press reports.
"I told him clearly that we are concerned about tensions in the region and that we do not want a military escalation," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters after the meeting.
The tone of the meeting was set at the beginning by the British foreign minister, Jeremy Hunt, who said that they were very concerned about the risk of causing a conflict "accidentally" due to rising tensions.
"The American stance of increasing pressure and sanctions does not suit us," said his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.
The meeting with Pompeo was hastily prepared, said EU High Representative Federica Mogherini.
"We have serious differences and we think dialogue is the best way to approach them and avoid escalation," Mogherini said.
The three ministers and Federica Mogherini previously agreed on the EU's common position, which is the desire to preserve the Iran nuclear deal and avoid escalation.
"We think Iran should start talking instead of making threats. They made a bad choice by focusing on threats," said the US envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, who came to Brussels with Mike Pompeo.
He said that Pompeo wanted to share with European officials some information that has not been made public so far.
France, Germany and Great Britain are the three European signatories to the agreement signed in 2015 with Iran over its nuclear program, along with Russia, China and the US.
The Europeans want to preserve the agreement, which has threatened to fall apart since US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw the US from it and impose sanctions on Iran. Europeans are also affected by these sanctions because their companies and banks can no longer do business with Iran without the threat of sanctions.
"In Europe, we believe that this agreement is necessary for our security. Nobody wants to see Iran with nuclear weapons," said German Minister Mas.
However, the Europeans did not like the threats of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who gave the Europeans 60 days to find a way out of Iran's banking and oil isolation caused by US sanctions, or he would stop honoring some of the commitments made under that agreement related to uranium enrichment.
"Together we will see how to act to keep that agreement and for Iran to stay in it. It is important that the EU remains united," French Minister Le Drian said.
Mogherini reminded that so far the Iranians have respected their obligations under the agreement.
She said that they will start using the Instex mechanism that the EU established to facilitate trade with Iran in addition to US sanctions.
However, Europeans are worried about American military movements in the Middle East. Washington has sent a warship and the Patriot missile system to the Gulf, where an aircraft carrier and a B-52 bomber are already based.
Several ships were the target of mysterious sabotage near the Emirates, reported from Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which increased tensions in the Gulf.
"I think we need a period of peace, to make sure everyone understands what the other side is thinking. We need to be careful not to put Iran back on the path to nuclearization. Because if Iran becomes a nuclear power, its neighbors will probably want to become nuclear powers as well," said British Minister Hunt and added that it is the most unstable region in the world and that something like that would be a huge step in the wrong direction.
After Brussels, Mike Pompeo is traveling to Sochi to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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