UN to adopt resolution for lifting sanctions on Iran

United Nations

The UN Security Council is due to adopt a resolution Monday that would clear a path for international sanctions crippling Iran's economy to be lifted.

The vote, set for 9:00 am (1300 GMT) is only a formality. The council's five permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany crafted the deal signed in Vienna on Tuesday as well as the draft UN resolution.

The text launches a progressive and conditional lifting of sanctions, in exchange for guarantees that the Islamic republic will not develop a nuclear bomb.

If passed, it would mark formal UN endorsement for the hard-won, groundbreaking agreement reached between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group after 18 straight days of talks that capped almost two years of momentous negotiations.

The resolution calls for the agreement's "full implementation on the timetable established," and urges UN member countries to facilitate the process.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, must "undertake the necessary verification and monitoring of Iran's nuclear commitments," the text says. 

Those commitments include limiting the number of centrifuges for its fissile material. The resolution demands that Iran "cooperate fully" with the IAEA.