UNITED NATIONS, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Britain, France and Germany are prepared to circulate the long-expected draft resolution imposing sanctions against Iran on Thursday morning, UN diplomats said Wednesday.

    British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told reporters after a closed consultation with his counterparts of five other major nations -- the United States, Russia, China, France and Germany --that "we expect tomorrow to be in a position to introduce a text into the council."

    He said there will be consultations at 11:00 a.m. local time (1500 GMT) on Thursday, adding "our hope is that at stage we can put forward a text, that text will enjoy the support of those who have been working on it and then it will be for the council to decide how it wishes to deal with it."

    "We have an agreement in principle based on some additional changes that were introduced and presented today by some delegations," acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said. "So it's new elements and understandings that need confirmation from capitals. But it is a package approach that, if approved by capitals, would be essentially the way forward in a resolution."

    Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters that a vote will take place only when the council is ready for adopting the draft resolution.

    He noted that some members of the six still want to double-check with the capitals on some of the details of this deal, adding that "I assume as they double-check, they will get a positive response from the capitals, and they expect that this is going to be the case, too."

    Meanwhile, Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa, council president for March, told reporters that the voting won't be soon. ¡¡

    "We anticipate that the voting would happen well into next week" after all delegations have had a chance to refer the text to their capitals, he said.

    There is little difference on the content of the draft, UN diplomat told Xinhua on condition of anonymity because of the sensibility of the issue.

    He also said that the elements initiated by the United States and Britain have been significantly watered down.

    The mandatory travel ban has been dropped and instead restraint was added. Embargo on arms exports was agreed upon while arms imports would be permitted under necessary vigilance.

    On Feb. 22, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report filed in Vienna to its 35-nation board of governors and the UN Security Council that "Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities."

    The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Dec. 23, 2006, asking Iran to suspend uranium enrichment in 60 days. However, Iran has failed to do so and claimed its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.

    Washington has accused Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian program, a charge that Iran denies.