EU lifts some sanctions on Iran

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has voted to lift some economic sanctions on Iran after getting word that high-level uranium enrichment there was suspended earlier in the day.

The deal that went into effect Monday was worked out in talks brokered by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. The payoff to Iran should be an influx of billions of dollars over the next six months into the Islamic republic's shaky economy.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who voted with other EU foreign ministers in Brussels to suspend some of the sanctions for six months, called the deal "an important milestone."

An EU official told reporters last week the decision will go into effect Monday as soon as it's published in the official EU record.