Germany's foreign minister Heiko Maas has urged Iran not to waste a final "window of opportunity" to keep alive the 2015 deal on their nuclear program.
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Countries trying to keep alive the deal have agreed to "positively address" the possibility of a US return to the accord under the Biden administration.
Monday's virtual meeting of parties to the agreement came as the deal is in what Maas called a "downward spiral" caused by a mixture of strong US pressure on Iran and Tehran's violations of the accord.
The remaining signatories to the agreement - Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia - have been trying to keep it from collapsing after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States in 2018.
It is hoped that the change of administration in Washington, could bring the US back into the deal, which is aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear bomb - something Tehran insists it does not want to do.
President-elect Joe Biden has said he hopes to return the US to the deal, which was negotiated while he was vice president under Barack Obama.
Iran is now in violation of most major restrictions set out in the agreement, including the amount of enriched uranium it is allowed to stockpile and the purity to which it is allowed to enrich uranium.
"Ministers acknowledged the prospect of a return of the US to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and underlined their readiness to positively address this in a joint effort," a statement released by the group said.
"We are standing at a crossroads today," Maas told reporters in Berlin.
"To make possible a rapprochement under Biden, there must be no more technical manoeuvres of the kind we have seen plenty of in recent times - they would do nothing but further undermine the agreement.
"The opportunity that is now being offered - this last window of opportunity - must not be squandered.
"We made that very clear today to Iran in particular."
The deal promises Iran economic incentives in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, but with the reinstatement of American sanctions the other nations have been struggling to provide Iran the assistance it seeks.
Despite Iran's violations, the International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that Tehran continues to give inspectors full access to its nuclear sites - a key reason the JCPOA member nations say the deal is worth preserving.
Australian Associated Press
