HAMILTON, Canada 

Russia and China expressed regret Friday after the UN Security Council rejected their draft resolution to delay the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran, as the US and UK defended the move as necessary.

"Those members of the Security Council who supported this document reaffirmed their commitment to international law, to equitable and mutually respectful dialogue and to the task of maintaining international peace and security," Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said at the Council's session on Iran sanctions.

He argued that "the adoption of this would have preserved a chance for the international community to reach a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in the context of the Iranian nuclear program."

Criticizing Council members who rejected the resolution, Polyanskiy said: "We regret the fact that a number of Security Council colleagues were unable to summon the courage or the wisdom to support our draft."

The abstentions, he added, pointed to "doubts vis-à-vis the destructive policy that is being carried out by the US, the UK and France to definitively dismantle the nuclear deal and to bury the diplomatic path towards resolving the crisis around it."

He also warned that "all responsibility for any consequences of today's vote … lies squarely with those states that did not support our draft."

China's Deputy UN Envoy Geng Shuang similarly expressed "deep regret" for the failure to adopt the draft resolution, emphasizing that "dialogue, negotiations, and difficult means are the only viable options for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue."

He urged the US "to demonstrate political will by responding positively to Iran's proposal to resume talks and committing unequivocally to refrain from further military strikes against Iran."

Geng further called on the E3 -- UK, France, and Germany -- "to engage in good faith in diplomatic efforts and abandon their approach of pushing for sanctions and coercive pressure against Iran."

UK envoy Barbara Woodward said her country voted against the resolution because "Iran is defying the global Non-Proliferation regime," pointing to Tehran's "accumulation of a high-enriched uranium stockpile, which lacks any credible civilian justification."

"However, the United Kingdom remains committed to pursuing a diplomatic solution that ensures Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon while maintaining Iran's right to a civil nuclear program in line with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," she said.

US Deputy Representative Dorothy Shea welcomed the rejection, saying it prevented "a hollow effort to relieve Iran of any accountability for its continued significant non-performance of its nuclear commitments."

"If the Russian Federation and China want to help realize a durable, negotiated outcome on the Iranian nuclear issue, rather than seek to bolster an untenable status quo of flagrant Iranian efforts to undermine the global nonproliferation regimes, then they must press leaders in Tehran to take meaningful, immediate steps to fulfill its commitments and obligations, including by fully cooperating with the IAEA," she said.

The E3 are signatories to the 2015 nuclear agreement, which placed limits on Iran's nuclear activities.

Under the pact, endorsed by the UN Security Council, Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors to verify that its nuclear program served only peaceful purposes.

After US and Israeli attacks on Iran, Tehran halted cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, claiming that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was biased against it.

On Aug. 28, the E3 countries triggered the "snapback" mechanism under Security Council Resolution 2231. In line with the mechanism, the sanctions will be reimposed Sept. 28.