The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution that allows the lifting of international sanctions against Iran to begin.
The July 20 vote was widely seen as a formality because the council's five veto-weilding permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States -- plus Germany, had agreed to the move as part of a nuclear deal with Iran that was signed in Vienna on July 14.
The resolution launches a gradual and conditional lifting of economic sanctions in exchange for guarantees that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons.
It calls for the agreement's "full implementation on the timetable established" and urges UN member countries to facilitate the process.
It says the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), must "undertake the necessary verification and monitoring of Iran's nuclear commitments."
It also demands Iran "cooperate fully" with the IAEA.