Officials say U.S., other countries discussing ending U.N. sanctions on Iran

Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, Germany, and Iran are discussing a United Nations Security Council resolution that would end a set of U.N. sanctions on Iran if a nuclear agreement is reached with the country. U.N. sanctions undergird the legal rationale for U.S. and European Union sanctions against the Islamic republic, and easing them would make it harder for U.S. Republicans to undercut a deal.

Western officials told Reuters that the Iran negotiations, focusing on phasing out stringent U.S. and EU sanctions on Iran's energy and financial sectors, are also looking at draft language for a Security Council resolution to begin easing U.N. nuclear-related sanctions. "If there's a nuclear deal, and that's still a big 'if,' we'll want to move quickly on the U.N. sanctions issue," an official told Reuters.

The goal is to come up with a deal by the end of March and a full agreement by June 30, and in exchange for Iran curtailing its most sensitive nuclear activities for at least a decade, there will be an eventual end to sanctions against the country.

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