AFP, Luxembourg, June 23, 2008 (excerpts) – EU nations on Monday agreed new sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear programme, notably banning the country’s largest bank, Bank Melli, from operating in Europe.

The measures, which will stop the operations of the bank at its European offices in London, Hamburg and Paris, were approved during a meeting of EU agriculture and fisheries ministers in Luxembourg.

The move, adopted without discussion by the EU ministers, also adds another 20 individuals and 15 organizations to the EU’s visa-ban and assets-freeze lists.

European officials did not give details on Monday of those added to the list, but said they were officials and experts identified as having connections with Iran’s nuclear and weapons programmes.

The EU move, running alongside a string of UN sanctions against Iran adopted since 2006, aims at persuading Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, which the international community fears are part of a nuclear weapons building programme.

The UN sanctions include a clause calling for “vigilance” by member states over the movement in their territories of people directly associated with or supporting Iran’s nuclear activities.

Washington has been waiting for Europe to take such measures for months, and the matter became a theme of US President George W. Bush’s recent European tour.

The 27 EU member states have been working out the details since May but the measures were delayed until after a trip to Iran earlier this month by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
Solana visited Tehran on June 14 to present a cooperation offer to Iran on behalf of the six major countries involved in the dossier — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US.

The proposal, which offers Iran technological incentives in exchange for it suspending the sensitive process of uranium enrichment, has been made public, as has a letter from the six world powers dealing with the nuclear crisis.

Solana said Friday that he had still received no response from the Iranian side on the offer, which is conditional on Tehran suspending its uranium enrichment activities.