Another official, who is familiar with details of the sanctions relief being considered, said the relief being discussed as part of an initial six-month agreement would be "limited, temporary, targeted and reversible."
The officials would not disclose the exact details of the proposal offered Iran because negotiations have not yet been concluded. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss negotiations publicly.
Sanctions have taken a toll on Iran's economy. Last year, Iran's economy contracted by more than 5 percent, and Iran's oil exports are down from about 2.5 million barrels a day in 2011 to about 1 million barrels a day now.
Sanctions also have limited or barred Iran's access to about $100 billion in reserves, the official familiar with the sanctions said. If the agreement allows Iran to repatriate some of that money during the initial phase, it would not be anywhere near enough to ease the effect of sanctions on the Iranian economy, the official said. Moreover, core sanctions, such as the U.S. trade embargo, restrictions on Iranian banks and Iran's use of its oil revenues, will all remain in place as well as sanctions over Iran's support of terrorism and abuse of human rights.
Overlapping international sanctions have isolated Iran from the international banking system. Because of the sanctions, Iran cannot easily move money around the world. Even if Iran is given limited access to some of its funds, it would continue to have a difficult time moving and using the money.
Administration officials are worried that if Congress puts new sanctions on Iran, as some members have discussed doing, Tehran will think the U.S. is negotiating in bad faith. But lawmakers argue that if the deal does not force Iran to put its nuclear program on hold, the U.S. shouldn't ease sanctions.
Four Republican senators wrote to Obama on Friday expressing serious concerns that the United States was considering sanctions relief for Iran "valued at up to $20 billion and, in exchange, Iran would not be required to dismantle a single centrifuge, close a single facility or ship outside its borders a single kilogram of enriched uranium."
Still, the Democratic-controlled Senate could delay a likely vote on a new round of sanctions. Republican and Democratic aides said Friday that debate on the annual defense bill could be delayed until later next week, in part because of Senate action on a separate pharmaceutical bill. The sanctions were likely to be added as an amendment to the defense bill.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vigorously opposed to the proposal being discussed with Iran. He took to Twitter on Friday to continue to warn against rushing into what he said was a "bad deal."
The administration insists the proposal being discussed with Iran is tough.
"We're continuing to convey to those who are opponents and those who have claimed that this proposal is not a fair deal or one that makes too many concessions, that if that is actually the case, why didn't the Iranians accept the deal a week ago?" State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki asked.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Friday he was hopeful about the next round of negotiations but said any agreement that does not recognize and respect the rights of the Iranian people has no chance of being approved.
Iran refuses to completely give up uranium enrichment, but the level of enrichment has become a key aspect of the ongoing Geneva talks.
The U.S. and others no longer appear to demand a complete halt to enrichment and are concentrating on curbing the highest-level production, currently at 20 percent. Such material is needed for Iran's lone research reactor, which makes isotopes for medical treatments, but is only just several steps away from warhead level at more than 90 percent enrichment. Energy-producing reactors use uranium enriched at levels of about 3.5 percent.
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Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann and Donna Cassata in Washington and Aron Heller in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
