UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council on Monday imposed a third round of sanctions on Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, even though some members acknowledged that more penalties were unlikely to change Tehran's mind.
Key powers also offered political and economic incentives to get the country to stop enrichment and start talking again.
The sponsors of the resolution, the five permanent council members plus Germany, said they were trying to provide Iran with a choice between isolation and engagement, and that the new sanctions were intended to demonstrate that the council was serious.
"Nobody said the sanctions resolution will bring us to the desired result," said German Ambassador Thomas Matussek. "The result can only be brought about by negotiations, but we must show we are credible."
The new round of sanctions expands the list of people and companies involved in Iran's nuclear program subject to travel bans and having their financial assets frozen. It increases monitoring of Iranian banks, particularly Bank Melli and Bank Saderat, which are believed to have financed procurement of nuclear technologies. For the first time, it allows for the inspection of suspect cargo in ports and airports, but not on the high seas.
At the same time, the six countries renewed a 2006 offer to help Iran develop a modern nuclear power program, including the supply of nuclear fuel, as well as normalizing political and trade relations in exchange for suspension of enrichment.
Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, already provides fuel for a nuclear power plant it has built in Bushehr in southern Iran.
Iran dismissed the previous offer as demeaning, saying accepting it would make the country dependent on others. Its U.N. ambassador, Mohammad Khazaee, rejected the latest resolution even before the vote, saying the Security Council was about to make an "unjust and irrational decision on Iran's nuclear program" and that Iran would not give up the right to enrich uranium.
Uranium enriched to low levels can be used as fuel to produce electricity. At much higher levels of enrichment, it can be used to make a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only; the U.S. and its allies have long feared that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear weapon.
