U.S. Presents Draft Iran Resolution to U.N.

The United States Wednesday presented a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council asking it to endorse a historic deal curtailing Iran's nuclear program, diplomats said.

The draft text seeks formal U.N. approval for the hard-won, ground-breaking agreement reached in Vienna on Tuesday after 18 days of talks.

The resolution would also replace the existing framework of Security Council sanctions with the restrictions set out in the agreement hammered out over almost two years of negotiations, which came to a climax in Vienna.

Under the deal, hammered out by six world powers and Iran, a web of sanctions will be gradually lifted as Tehran takes steps to dismantle and mothball much of its nuclear program to ensure it cannot build a bomb.

A vote on the resolution could come as early as Monday or Tuesday, a diplomat said.

It should pass with little difficulty since the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- were among those countries which negotiated the Vienna accord.