EU tightens sanctions against Iran New EU sanctions, including an embargo on Iranian natural gas, are a response to Iran's refusal to address concerns about its nuclear programme, says William Hague. Photograph: Virginia Mayo/AP The EU has tightened its sanctions against Iran by imposing stricter measures targeting the country's banking, trade and energy sectors. The new punitive package, which includes an embargo on Iranian natural gas, was agreed at the EU foreign affairs council in Luxembourg on Monday. Its aim is to close major loopholes that allow Iran to circumvent sanctions and secure funds for its disputed nuclear programme. "The EU has today increased the pressure on Iran through another substantial package of sanctions," said Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, who along with his French and German counterparts called for tighter sanctions last month. These are a direct response to Iran's continued refusal to take concrete steps to address our concerns about its nuclear programme. The west suspects a military dimension to Tehran's nuclear activities, but Iran has remained adamant in saying the programme is only for peaceful purposes. The White House welcomed the new EU sanctions, with press secretary Jay Carney saying: "Rallying the world to isolate Iran and increasing the pressure on its leadership so that they stop pursuing a nuclear weapon has been a top priority for the president." The move "further strengthens international efforts to pressure and isolate the Iranian government," Carney added. Six UN security council resolutions call on Iran to halt enriching uranium, address questions about its nuclear programme and be more transparent. Despite this, Iran has defied sanctions and threats of an Israeli military strike by continuing to enrich uranium. Meanwhile, talks between Tehran and world's major powers have reached stalemate. "[Iran] is enriching uranium on a scale that has no plausible civilian justification and increasing its enrichment capacity at a heavily protected site that it originally sought to keep secret," Hague said. Today we have taken steps to prohibit financial transactions with Iranian banks, to intensify restrictions in the energy sector and to limit some areas of trade, in order to choke off revenue that Iran is using for its nuclear programme, prevent it from accessing materials for the programme, and prevent it from circumventing existing sanctions. The EU has imposed an embargo on the imports of Iranian oil - among other measures - since July. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, addressing crowds in the north-eastern city of Shirvan on Monday, said enemies would not be able "to disrupt the calmness in the country." Last week, he described western sanctions as "barbaric" and "a war against a nation." The new banking measures prohibit any transactions with Iranians banks and financial institutions unless specifically authorised or exempted, such as for humanitarian purposes. Iran will also face a ban imposed on the purchase, import and transport of its natural gas. The sanctions prohibit the construction of oil tankers for Iran, the flagging and classification of Iranian oil tankers and cargo vessels. Hague warned "the choices being made by Iran's leaders are already having a profound impact," a possible reference to Iran's recent financial problems. Earlier this month, its currency, the rial, was sent into a tailspin, hitting an all-time low. Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, reacted to the news by drawing a comparison between "the important principle" the EU had adopted and the one the UN had settle on with sanctions against Iraq. With Iraq, that of course ended up with 500,000 Iraqi children dead, resulted in the shortage of medicine, and other needs, and ended up ultimately to forceful invasion and war.. Referring to continuing pressure on Iran from the west, Parsi said: "There's nothing peaceful about economic warfare at the end of the day and particularly when the embargo is as broad as this is, everything is forbidden unless explicitly permitted, that's the opposite of smart sanctions, when you don't have smart sanctions, you have economic warfare The EU says this is aimed at getting Iran back to negotiate more seriously, to be frank it appears not to be about getting Iran to negotiate seriously but rather getting Iran to capitulate quickly.