The International Atomic Energy Agency's board meeting in Vienna voted on Friday to censure Iran over its refusal to halt its uranium-enrichment program. (Hans Punz/Associated Press)

The board of the International Atomic Energy Agency voted on Friday to censure Iran for pursuing its uranium-enrichment program.

Diplomats inside the meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog said 25 of the 34 board nations present voted for a resolution criticizing Iran for its defiant pursuit of its nuclear program. Three members voted against the resolution and another six abstained, according to reports from inside the meeting.

All six countries involved in the negotiations with Iran in the fall — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — backed the resolution.

The six countries and the IAEA held talks with Iran in an effort to persuade the Islamic republic to agree to allow UN inspectors to visit a previously secret uranium-enrichment facility near the city of Qom.

Iran agreed to allow the inspectors, but balked at a UN-proposed plan to ship its available supply of enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment, and have it returned in a form that could be used for civilian purposes but not for weapons.

Iranian diplomat warns against threats

The UN resolution censures Iran for secretly building the second enrichment facility and demands that it immediately suspend construction.

Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh, the envoy to the IAEA, told the IRNA news agency that the UN should not use threats against his country.

He said the IAEA should use "the language of logic rather than force."

Iran has insisted it is enriching uranium only to power a future network of nuclear reactors. But because enrichment can also produce fissile warhead material, the country's program has raised concerns with the United States and its allies that Iran was working on developing nuclear weapons.