A last-minute attempt to delay “snapback” sanctions against Iran failed at the United Nations Security Council on Friday, after Tehran did not convince enough nations that it had scaled back its nuclear program.

The resolution, led by China and Russia, two allies of Iran, sought to delay the automatic re-imposition of the United Nations sanctions for six months, but the measure received only four votes in the 15-member Council. Among the nine countries that opposed putting off the sanctions were Britain, France and the United States.

The sanctions are due to go into effect at early on Sunday in Iran.

They include an embargo on conventional arms sales to Iran, restrictions on ballistic missile tests, asset freezes on key individuals involved in Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, financial and banking restrictions and bans on uranium enrichment or reprocessing.

At the Security Council meeting in New York, European leaders said that while intensive diplomatic efforts had been made in recent days to get Iran to compromise, they did not believe that Iranian leaders were making concrete commitments.

“To our major regret, Iran has persisted in its attitude of refusal,” said Jérôme Bonnafont, France’s representative to the U.N. Iran had failed to commit to the effective resumption of cooperation with the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog and to “shed light” of the location of its stock of enriched material, Mr. Bonnafort added.

Barbara Woodward, Britain’s representative to the U.N., also said: “We stand ready to continue discussions with Iran on a diplomatic solution. In turn, this could allow for the lifting of sanctions in the future.”