HAMILTON, Canada

The UN Security Council on Friday failed to adopt a draft resolution aimed at preventing the "snapback" of sanctions on Iran that were lifted under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The draft resolution, submitted by South Korea in its capacity as the council president this month, sought to maintain sanctions relief by deciding that provisions from earlier council sanctions resolutions "remain terminated."

It failed to secure the required nine votes for adoption, with Russia, China, Pakistan, and Algeria voting in favor, while Guyana and South Korea abstained.

Nine members of the council, namely the UK, France, Denmark, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Panama, the US, Greece, and Somalia, voted against.

As a result, the resolution failed, paving the way for sanctions to be reinstated under the JCPOA's "snapback" mechanism and Security Council resolution 2231, which endorsed the nuclear deal in 2015. 

Speaking after the vote, Russia's UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia told the council: "The fact that Russia voted in favor of the draft should not be interpreted as a change in our position."

"We supported the draft for one reason only. It's an operative paragraph that preserves the lifting of UN sanctions on Iran, and this is the only correct, politically and legally justified decision," he said.

He accused the European countries of not being willing to uphold diplomacy and added that "the Western delegations are very conveniently ignoring" Israel's attacks on Iran.

"I remind you here that there was a real alternative to the current lawlessness within the Security Council Chamber, and it is the Russia-China draft resolution, which is currently in blue," he said.

China's UN envoy Fu Cong also reiterated support for continued sanctions relief for Iran and said: "We firmly reject relevant countries' push by force for the invocation of the step-back mechanism and hold such a move as gravely undermining diplomatic efforts for a political resolution of the Iran nuclear issue."

"The US, at the expense of its own credibility, went even further by recklessly launching military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, thereby torpedoing the very negotiation process that the US itself initiated," he said, calling the snapback mechanism "unfair and unreasonable."

The UK envoy, Barbara Woodward, hailed the result of the voting and said: "Today's resolution fulfills a key step of the snapback process set out in Security Council Resolution 2231."

"The United Kingdom voted no on today's resolution because if it were adopted, it would have permanently terminated six council resolutions on Iran's nuclear program, removing this important issue from the council's agenda," she said, accusing Iran of non-compliance with JCPOA and "failure to implement its legal obligations" under the nuclear deal.

In a news conference after the council's session, Iranian envoy to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani rejected the sanctions and blamed the US and E3 for undermining diplomacy and the non-proliferation regime.

"This move is a political abuse of process. It was the US that left the JCPOA. It was the E3 that failed its obligations, and it was Israel, backed by the US, that attacked Iran's safeguarded nuclear facilities," he said.

Describing the council action as "hasty, unnecessary, and unlawful," Iravani also noted that "Iran's nuclear program will not be destroyed by bombs, halted by sanctions, or diverted from its peaceful path." 

The UK, France, and Germany, known as 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 UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which will restore sanctions in 30 days if Iran fails to meet its obligations.