EU:THE EU has agreed to impose tougher sanctions on Iran that will shut down the European offices of its biggest bank and introduce visa restrictions for more Iranian officials.
The sanctions were agreed yesterday following calls for tough action from US president George Bush when he visited Europe on a week-long farewell trip earlier this month.
Iran has ignored three successive UN resolutions demanding a halt to uranium processing, prompting concern in Israel, which has threatened a military strike against Tehran's nuclear facilities.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who visited Jerusalem yesterday, predicted "harsher and harsher sanctions" against Iran unless it changed course and told lawmakers that a nuclear-armed Iran would be "unacceptable".
The EU is due to publish the names of those Iranian officials affected by the sanctions today but a diplomat confirmed that Iran's largest bank - Bank Melli - would face an asset freeze under the moves. The visa ban would target "very senior experts" inside Iran's nuclear and ballistic programmes. "The individuals will be banned from entering the EU and the entities will be banned from operating in the EU," said an official, after EU agriculture ministers approved the new sanctions at a meeting in Luxembourg.
Despite the decision to introduce new sanctions on Iran, EU officials said a package of incentives offered to Tehran if it suspended uranium enrichment was still on the table.
This decision underlines the "carrot and stick" approach adopted by the EU since it began negotiations with Tehran on the nuclear issue.
The sanctions are based on measures agreed by the UN Security Council.
Meanwhile, the six powers engaged with Iran on the nuclear issue - the five permanent members of the council, plus Germany - are still waiting for Iran to respond to their incentives offer.
The US and the EU agreed this month they were ready to take additional steps aimed at ensuring Iranian banks could not back nuclear proliferation and terrorism. Diplomats say there are exploratory talks in the West about the possibility of targeting Iran's energy sector with future sanctions.
Iran insists its nuclear work is a peaceful programme, but the dispute has sparked fears of military confrontation and helped push up oil prices to record highs.