Russia, China push at UN to delay return of Iran sanctions fails

A Russian and Chinese push to delay the return of United Nations sanctions on Iran failed on Friday at the 15-member UN Security Council after only four countries voted in favor of their draft resolution.

Nine countries voted no, while two abstained. All UN sanctions on Iran are due to be reimposed at 8 pm EST on Saturday (0000 GMT) after France, Germany and Britain accused Tehran of violating a 2015 deal that aimed to stop it from building a nuclear bomb. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.

A US official at the UN said that Washington welcomed the result of the vote. But the official added that this does not preclude the removal of sanctions through diplomacy at a later stage.

The French envoy to the UN said the return of UN sanctions will not mean the end of diplomacy with Tehran. However, the envoy said that Iran has not provided any gestures to avert the move, instead opting to postpone everything.