Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday defended the nuclear deal at the United Nations, saying it was an internationally-backed accord whose fate could not be decided by "one or two countries."

The 2015 deal was "overwhelmingly applauded by the international community and endorsed as part of Resolution 2231" adopted by the Security Council, Rouhani told the UN General Assembly.

"As such it belongs to the international community in its entirety and not only to one or two countries," he said.