LUXEMBOURG (AFP) - EU nations on Monday agreed new sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program, 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 program.
No Iranian political leaders was hit by the sanctions, because “we want to have a dialogue,” one diplomat said.
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.
Tehran insists it wants atomic energy only for a growing population whose fossil fuels will eventually run out.