EU vows tough line on Iran UN sanctions

BRUSSELS, Jan 22 (Reuters) EU foreign ministers will agree today to apply UN sanctions on Iran ''in full and without delay'' and if necessary go further than a UN list in targeting those linked to Tehran's nuclear work, diplomats said.

The EU move is the latest step by the West to ratchet up pressure on Iran to halt uranium enrichment after US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice was quoted at the weekend as warning companies of the risks of doing business with Iran.

Tehran maintains that its nuclear ambitions are limited to generating electricity. The European Union and the United States suspect Tehran is secretly seeking to build nuclear bombs.

They say it will face harsher sanctions if it ignores the resolution unanimously passed on December 23 at the behest of the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France. The resolution gave Iran 60 days to suspend nuclear fuel-enrichment activity.

EU ministers will call on ''all countries to implement the measures in full and without delay,'' according to a draft of their statement to be released later today.

''We'll reach agreement today on getting all the members of the EU to enforce fully the implementation of the decision of the UN Security Council resolution,'' German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country holds the EU presidency, told reporters before meeting counterparts in Brussels.

The UN sanctions resolution bans transfers of sensitive nuclear materials to Iran, freezes financial assets of those associated with the nuclear programme and asks countries to pass on information about the whereabouts of individuals on the list.

EU foreign ministers will agree to slap travel and asset freezes on all individuals covered by the criteria, as well as stopping them from carrying out transactions with the bloc.

They will also vow to prevent Iranian nationals studying proliferation-sensitive subjects within the EU in a move tha would potentially go beyond the UN sanctions, diplomats said.

The EU has led international diplomacy based on an offer made last June of trade, political and technical incentives for Iran to give up uranium enrichment, and ministers were set to confirm the offer remained on the table despite the move towards sanctions.

Iran said last week it was ready to begin installing 3,000 centrifuges for industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel.

Germany's Der Spiegel magazine quoted Rice at the weekend as advising firms to think about the possibility of more sanctions that could affect business before launching deals there.

''The United States is clearly sanctioning Iranian banks and our laws are very tough on those who deal with banks that we have sanctioned,'' she said.

The US Treasury has also named Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and no US company or citizen is permitted to do business with it.

European diplomats say the United States is thinking about further steps, one of which may be an oil embargo against Iran, and the EU has yet to agree whether it would follow such a move.

REUTERS SP ND1908