The U.N. Security Council has rejected a resolution by Russia and China seeking to delay the reimposition of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
The decision comes just a day before the sanctions are set to take effect.
The resolution, backed by Iran’s closest allies Russia and China, failed to gain the nine votes required for passage in the 15-member council. Only four nations — China, Russia, Pakistan, and Algeria — supported giving Tehran more time to negotiate with European countries and the United States.
Western countries triggered the so-called "snapback" mechanism last month after accusing Iran of failing to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal. Britain, France, and Germany argued that weeks of high-level meetings had not produced a "concrete" agreement.
The sanctions, now set to resume Saturday, will freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals, and penalise the country’s ballistic missile development. These measures are expected to further strain Iran’s already fragile economy.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called the move "unfair, unjust, and illegal." He dismissed suggestions that Iran would quit the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, saying his country has no such intention at this time.
Pezeshkian criticised the role of the U.S. in the negotiations, claiming its delegates skipped a scheduled meeting with European and Iranian officials. "The Americans never showed up. What are we supposed to do?" he said. He also accused Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, of reversing previously agreed points. "The distrust at this moment between us and the U.S. is so large," Pezeshkian added.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blamed both Europe and the U.S. for the current crisis. "The U.S has betrayed diplomacy, but it is the E3 which have buried it," he said. "This sordid mess did not come about overnight. Both the E3 and the U.S. have consistently misrepresented Iran's peaceful nuclear program."
Deputy Russian ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy also criticised Western nations, saying that Moscow had expected European countries and the U.S. to choose diplomacy and dialogue over “clumsy blackmail,” which he argued only escalates tensions in the region.
European leaders have said they would consider extending the deadline if Iran meets certain conditions. These include restarting direct talks with the U.S., allowing U.N. inspectors full access to nuclear sites, and accounting for more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium reported by the IAEA.
Iran enriches uranium up to 60%, the only non-nuclear weapons state to do so — just a short step from weapons-grade levels. Earlier this month, Iran signed an agreement mediated by Egypt with the IAEA to restart cooperation and inspections. But Tehran has warned it would terminate the deal if sanctions are reimposed.
The IAEA confirmed on Friday that inspectors remain in Iran and are currently examining a second undamaged nuclear site. In late August, they also observed fuel replacement at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.
However, European officials said these actions were insufficient to prevent the sanctions from going ahead this weekend.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has said peace talks with the U.S. represent "a sheer dead end," underlining the limits of last-minute diplomacy at the U.N. General Assembly this week.
As the sanctions return, tensions between Iran and Western nations are expected to deepen further.