The UN Security Council has approved a third set of sanctions against Iran, for refusing to suspend nuclear activities. The resolution calls for more travel and financial restrictions on named Iranian individuals and companies. Iran’s UN ambassador, Mohammad Khazaee, dismissed the council’s decision as illegal and illegitimate.

Mohammad Khazaee: “The international community is once again witnessing that the credibility of the Security Council, whose primary responsibility is to maintain international peace and security, is readily downgraded to a mere tool of the international foreign policy of just a few countries.”

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the sanctions are needed in part because Iran has allegedly funded militant groups in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Zalmay Khalilzad: “If Iran continues down its current path, it will likely fuel proliferation activities in the region, which in turn could cause the demise of the NPT regime itself.”

The UN Security Council approved the sanctions, while Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was wrapping up a historic visit to Iraq. On Monday, Ahmadinejad repeatedly called on the United States to withdraw its troops from Iraq.