The UN Security Council unanimously voted Saturday to impose new sanctions on Iran for continuing to enrich uranium in violation of a December 2006 resolution. Security Council Resolution 1747 broadens the sanctions of December's Resolution 1737, freezing assets of investors in Iran and blocking the export of Iranian arms. Council members said they saw the unanimous vote as a strong censure sending a clear message that Iran should "suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to be verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency." The Council nonetheless emphasized that the resolution is not intended to punish Iran or its people but rather to prompt renewed negotiations. Iran has 60 days to comply before the sanctions take effect.

The Iranian parliament reviewed and rejected Resolution 1737 in December. That resolution cited reports submitted by the IAEA which showed that Iran had not "established full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities" as set out in Resolution 1696 or otherwise complied with IAEA instructions. Iran has consistently decried the sanctions and emphasized that its policy will go unchanged. On Saturday Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki said that Resolution 1747 takes an unlawful, unnecessary and unjustifiable action against the peaceful nuclear programme of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which presents no threat to international peace and security and falls, therefore, outside the Council’s Charter-based mandate.