Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Russia and China to stand against Washington's push to extend a UN-imposed arms embargo due to expire in October under Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with six powers.
"Americans are already angry, upset, and wanting to take this issue to the Security Council. We want four permanent\members of the (UN Security) Council to stand up to America," stressed Rouhani in a televised speech.
"Particularly, we expect Russia and China to resist this US plot. America will not succeed ... and we will increase our defense capabilities as we have been doing so even under sanctions."
If the UN Security Council does not extend the embargo, Washington has threatened to trigger a so-called snapback of all UN sanctions on Iran, including the arms embargo, using a process outlined in the nuclear deal, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, Russia and China, both parties to the deal, have already started making the case at the United Nations against US's claim that it can trigger a return of all sanctions on Iran at the Security Council.
The United States withdrew from the deal in 2018, arguing it was flawed to Tehran's advantage, and has reimposed sanctions crippling Iran's economy.
Under the deal, Iran agreed to halt its sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief.
Iran has gradually rolled back its commitments under the accord since the United States quit.
