Natural gas condensates and liquids are also included among the items North Korea is restricted from importing in excess of UN guidelines, the resolution says.
If nearby states have reasonable suspicion that ships transiting to North Korea are carrying prohibited items, those ships should undergo inspection by the proper authorities, according to the UN-drafted resolution.
North Korea is suspected of having conducted its sixth and most explosive nuclear test ever at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the isolated nation's North Hamgyong province.
"The ranges I hear are from 100 to 250 kiloton, depending on who you ask," Hans Kristensen, Director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists told Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear last week. "That's a significant increase from the 10 to 20 kiloton [explosion] they had in previous tests," the expert told Sputnik.
US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said the "strong relationship" between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping played a major factor in passing the new resolution.
The diplomat continued, "If [North Korea] agrees to stop its nuclear program, it can reclaim its future. It if proves it can live in peace, the world will live in peace with it."
Echoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford's statement that the "US is focused on a peaceful way ahead," Haley said the US is not seeking to participate in a war on the Korean Peninsula unless it crosses the line with respect to its nuclear program.
"We do not take pleasure in further strengthening sanctions today. We are not looking for war. The North Korean regime has not year passed the point of no return," Haley said.
