UNITED NATIONS, March 3 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council in New York Monday adopted a third round of sanctions against Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium.
The resolution authorizes cargo inspections in and out of Iran suspected of carrying prohibited equipment and tightens monitoring of Iranian financial institutions, The New York Times reported. It also adds 13 names of people and companies subject to travel and asset restrictions.
The vote was 14-0, with Indonesia abstaining. Western nations say Iran's uranium enrichment program is designed to build nuclear weapons.
The new names include people directly responsible for building centrifuges that enrich uranium ore and a brigadier general who tried to circumvent sanctions in two earlier resolutions, the U.N. council said.
The new measure also bars trade and supply of so-called dual-use items -- materials and technologies that can be adapted for military and civilian use, the Times said.
In Vienna, Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said disclosed intelligence reports that Iran secretly researched how to make nuclear weapons would be pursued.
"Iran continues to maintain that these alleged weaponization studies related to conventional weapons only are fabricated," ElBaradei told the International Atomic Energy Agency during a speech.
