By NNN-KUNA,
Brussels : The European Union has decided to impose more sanctions to put pressure on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment progrqmme.
The new sanctions include a ban of activities and freeze of all assets of the Bank Melli, Iran’s biggest bank, within the 27-member bloc, EU officials said here Monday.
The measures, which will be published in the EU’s official journal on Tuesday, also include a travel ban on the most senior Iranian officials involved in Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes. The names of the individuals and entities on the EU black list will be published on Tuesday.
The EU measures are part of UN Security Council sanctions imposed earlier on the Islamic Republic and have nothing to do with the new offer of incentives which the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana offered to Iran last week, said the EU officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The UN Security Council has approved three round of sanctions against Iran over the nuclear issue, the latest in March 2008.
The sources alleged that Bank Melli is financing Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Analysts in Brussels are however puzzled over the timing of the EU announcement. Iran has said that it is still studying the new EU offer, but the EU measures could now harden the Iranian position.
The EU, noted the officials, is continuing the dual-track approach, dialogue and applying the UN sanctions, to resolve Iran’s nuclear issue.
The EU has not changed the political approach to the Iran nuclear issue, they insisted.
Iran has repeatedly said that it will not stop its enrichment activity. Instead, Tehran has made its own offer to the EU to resolve the issue.