France wants its European partners to agree by end-January on sanctions on Iran similar to those envisaged by the United, States, Al Arabiya reported French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe saying on Tuesday.

“France … wants sanctions toughened and the president (Nicolas Sarkozy) has made two concrete proposals on that front — the first being the freezing of Iranian central bank assets, a tough measure, and the second an embargo on Iranian oil exports,” Juppe told i>tele, a French news TV channel.

“Iran is pursuing the development of its nuclear arms, I have no doubt about it. The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency is quite explicit on this point,” he said.

Washington is already in the process of imposing such sanctions, he said. “We want the Europeans to take a similar step by Jan. 30 to show our determination,” he said, according to Reuters.

EU foreign ministers are due to meet on Jan. 30.