U.N. to vote on Iran nuclear deal ‘next week’

The United Nations Security Council is likely to vote next week on a resolution to endorse the Iran nuclear deal and terminate targeted sanctions, but retain an arms embargo and ballistic missile technology ban, diplomats said.

The United States will circulate the draft resolution to the 15-member Security Council on Wednesday, U.N. diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Under a historic deal between Iran and major world powers in Vienna on Tuesday, Iran agreed to long-term curbs on a nuclear program that the West suspected was aimed at creating an atomic bomb. Iran has said its work is purely peaceful.

In return, the United States, European Union and United Nations would lift sanctions on Iran.

Under the agreement, any United Nations sanctions relief would be simultaneous with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verifying “implementation of agreed nuclear-related measures by Iran.”

The U.N. Security Council resolution would terminate its seven previous resolutions on Iran, but under the Vienna deal it would leave a U.N. weapons embargo in place for five years and a ban on buying missile technology for eight years.

The five permanent veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - were parties to the deal agreed with Iran in Vienna, along with Germany and the European Union.

The U.N. resolution to endorse the deal would also enshrine a mechanism for all Security Council sanctions to be automatically re-imposed if Iran breaches the deal.

According to the Vienna deal, the six world powers, Iran and the European Union will form a Joint Commission to handle any complaints about breaches. If the complaining state is not satisfied with how the commission addresses its concerns, it could then take its grievance to the U.N. Security Council.

The Security Council would then need to vote on a resolution to continue the lifting of sanctions on Iran.

If such a resolution has not been adopted within 30 days of the council receiving the complaint of a breach, then the sanctions contained in all previous U.N. resolutions would be re-imposed, unless the council decided otherwise.

If the nuclear deal is adhered to, all the provisions and measures of the U.N. resolution would terminate 10 years after its adoption and the Iran nuclear issue would be removed from the Security Council agenda.