The US and its allies want the UN Security Council to ban the sale of missile and atomic technology and withdraw technical assistance to Iran.
Diplomats said the proposal would also commit UN member nations to deny entry to Iranian officials involved in developing missiles or nuclear systems.
A Security Council resolution passed last week imposed similar sanctions on the sale or transfer of technology that could contribute to North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes after that nation's test explosion of a nuclear bomb.
One of the diplomats described all three measures aimed at Iran as moderate in impact, saying that was an attempt to win Russian and Chinese support. Moscow and Beijing could be formally presented with the draft later this week, the diplomat said.
Both Russia and China have agreed in principle to imposing sanctions over Iran's defiance of a council ultimatum to freeze uranium enrichment and sharply improve cooperation with the UN probe of suspect Iranian atomic activities. But both continue to publicly push for dialogue instead of UN punishment, despite the collapse last month of a European Union attempt to entice Iran into talks.
The EU proposed Iran at least temporarily freeze enrichment as a condition for multilateral talks meant to erase suspicions it may be trying to build nuclear arms in violation of its treaty commitments.
As permanent members of the council, Russia and China hold the power to veto its actions, as do the US, France and Britain, which drew up the sanctions resolution. Iran insists it will not halt uranium enrichment, which it says is intended solely to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that will generate electricity.
But enrichment also can produce material for nuclear warheads, and the US and others are suspicious of Iran's intentions.
Cancelling technical assistance to Iran from the UN nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, would do little to ease such fears. But as the first such withdrawal of IAEA help, it would send a strong signal of international displeasure with Tehran.
IAEA technical programs, which are freely available to all member countries, are restricted to medical or agricultural help, nuclear safety expertise and other peaceful applications that cannot be diverted for weapons purposes.
Typical projects involve the disposal of radioactive waste produced by nuclear reactors and the use of narrowly targeted radiotherapy for tumours. The draft resolution exempts IAEA technical cooperation on operational safety and legal advice at Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility being built by the Russians.
The facility would be Iran's first atomic power plant.
It was unclear how any eventual sanctions might impact on Russia's planned sale of 29 Tor-M1 air defence missile systems to Iran.
AP