United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security CouncilReuters

The United States on Friday presented to the UN Security Council a draft resolution toughening sanctions on North Korea, a council diplomat said, according to AFP.

The sanctions aim to deprive Pyongyang of $1 billion in export revenue.

The Council is expected to vote on Saturday on the measures, which include a ban on exports of coal, iron and iron ore, lead and lead ore, as well as seafood by the cash-starved state.

The United States has been negotiating the proposed new measures with China, North Korea's main trading partner and ally, since Pyongyang launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4, noted AFP.

A second launch on July 28 further raised alarm about Pyongyang's drive to develop a missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.

The ban on exports could deprive North Korea of $1 billion in annual revenue, roughly a third of its foreign currency earnings, a diplomat familiar with the negotiations told AFP.

The draft text would also prevent North Korea from sending additional workers abroad, prohibit all new joint ventures and ban new investment in the current joint companies.

The diplomat indicated that China and Russia were prepared to support the draft resolution, which would be the seventh set of UN sanctions imposed on North Korea since it first carried out a nuclear test in 2006.

In addition to sanctions, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, also recently warned that the U.S. is prepared to defend itself from the North Korean threat, saying, "One of our capabilities lies with our considerable military forces. We will use them if we must, but we prefer not to have to go in that direction.”

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)