The draft, if agreed on among the permanent five -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany, was scheduled to be put to a Security Council vote on Friday. Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin said, however, he did not think that would happen after negotiations late Thursday.

"I don't think there is going to be a vote tomorrow. Maybe Saturday, yes," Churkin said regarding the vote. "But clearly we will need tomorrow for further thinking and maybe further decisions."

The Russian envoy said that "just two or three issues remained," but described them as "difficult" and "important."

"We want the resolution to be as clear as possible and as precise as possible to make sure there are no surprises to anybody and that the implementation of this resolution proceeds smoothly after it's adopted," Churkin said.

The U.S. acting U.N. ambassador, Alejandro Wolff, told reporters after the meeting that "we continue to have negotiations. We continue to clarify some points...but I think we're getting closer."

"We're hoping for a vote as soon as possible," he said, but added that the three European drafters -- Britain, France and Germany -- still had "the lead" on when the vote was.

Earlier in the day in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States was "very supportive" of the sanctions resolution, even without the inclusion of the travel ban. However, she also added that "some changes are still to be made to that draft."

The text, if approved by the 15-member council, would become the first sanctions resolution on Iran since the International Atomic Energy Agency referred the issue to the council.

On Thursday, however, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly said, "Some so-called superpowers...think that they can control the whole world. I'm telling them: Open your eyes, today, the world no longer thinks your decisions have any value."

On Wednesday, some progress was made as Britain, France and Germany made further concessions to China and Russia by circulating a new draft text, which deleted the wording on a travel ban on Iranian officials involved in nuclear development and ballistic missile programs.

The resolution based on Article 41, Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, is set to draw strong criticism from Iran, which is likely to deepen its isolation, making a diplomatic solution over the nuclear issue difficult.

In late October, Britain, France and Germany circulated, in conjunction with the United States, a draft sanctions resolution on Iran to Russia and China.

The draft exempted the construction of a nuclear reactor at the Bushehr plant in southern Iran that was being supported by Russia.

It called on states to prevent the transfer of items that could contribute to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, ban the travel of Iranian officials involved in such programs, and freeze assets held by institutions or individuals related to such programs.

China and Russia, which both have a major economic stake in Iran, have demanded that the target of sanctions be drastically narrowed.

As a result, the three European nations on Dec. 8 deleted from the draft wording that could authorize military actions in the future. It also deleted references to the Bushehr plant, and narrowed the scope of banned items, before submitting a revised draft.

The three had held consultations with China, Russia and the United States over the rest of the articles, which were on the travel ban and freezing of assets.

The new revised text also dropped wording on an outright travel ban.

The latest text instead calls upon "all states to exercise vigilance regarding the entry into or transit through their territories of individuals who are engaged in, directly associated with or providing support for Iran's proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or for the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems."

In addition, the text calls for countries to monitor the travel of 12 individuals listed in an annex to the resolution designated as being involved with Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and any additional people designated by the council and or a Security Council sanctions committee to have involvement in nuclear-related activities.

On freezing of assets, the latest text requires all states to freeze financial assets of individuals and institutions involved in such programs as in the original text.

The six powers have been discussing measures against Iran after Tehran failed to comply with an Aug. 31 U.N. deadline to suspend uranium enrichment.

Tehran maintains that it is seeking nuclear development for peaceful purposes while major Western powers claim the current nuclear research in Iran is a cover for developing nuclear weapons.