The United States has said that the UN Security Council will vote on and approve Iran sanctions resolution next week. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the sanctions had been introduced in the UN Security Council and hoped that it will be voted and approved by the Council next week. On May 18, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, namely the P5+1, announced their agreement on a draft resolution proposing new sanctions against Iran. The new draft, which has been the subject of intensive consultations since early April, expands the breadth and reach of UN sanctions on Iran by creating new categories of punishments. Since December 2006, the UN Security Council has imposed three rounds of sanctions against the Islamic state. <br/>