France calls for embargo on Iranian oil Speaking ahead of a Jan. 30 EU foreign ministers' meeting, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said it was time to toughen sanctions - along the lines President Nicolas Sarkozy had proposed in late November. "France ... wants sanctions toughened and the president (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," Mr Juppe told a French news TV channel. President Barack Obama signed new sanctions against Iran into law on Saturday. "These will be European and American sanctions as we have the capacity to act in this domain," Mr Juppe said. If enforced strictly, the sanctions could make it nearly impossible for most refiners to buy crude from Iran, the world's fourth biggest producer. The United Nations Security Council has already imposed four rounds of global sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activities. Iran has so far shown no willingness to change its nuclear course but Iranian media reported on Saturday that nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili would write to the EU foreign policy chief to say Tehran was ready for fresh talks on its nuclear programme. Talks between Iran and six world powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - are in stalemate. French, British and US pressure on Tehran was ramped up after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voiced new concerns in late November about Iran's nuclear programme. The reluctance of Moscow and Beijing to further punish Iran has obliged Western states to act on their own, outside the United Nations framework.