EU foreign ministers adopted the new restrictive measures amid efforts to jumpstart international talks aimed at convincing Iran to halt its nuclear activities.
An EU statement said the ministers decided "to strengthen the restrictive measures imposed on Iran owing to concerns about its nuclear programme."
The European-Iranian Trade Bank (EIH), a German-based Iranian-owned bank, is among the companies added to the list, along with five individuals who will face an assets freeze and EU travel ban, a diplomat said.
An official in Berlin told AFP last week that "evidence pointing to the EIH`s involvement in (nuclear) proliferation has multiplied and become tangible."
The United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia have engaged in on-and-off talks with Iran aimed at halting its uranium enrichment programme.
After a new round of talks failed in Istanbul in January, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton sent a letter to Tehran inviting Iranian officials to return to the negotiating table.
Iran responded this month that it is ready for new talks, adding that the ball is in the court of the six.
But the response from chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili "sadly just reiterated the old positions of Iran," Ashton told reporters on arrival for talks with the EU ministers.
"We want them to move forward with the nuclear talks," she said.
"You know that my views on human rights in Iran is, it`s very, very important that we keep the pressure on Iran for the people and try to stop them with these large numbers of executions, and the approach they take with their people."
Western powers fear that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb, but Tehran denies the charge, insisting that it is merely trying to meet its people`s energy needs.
The EU and the United States have slapped unilateral sanctions on Iran on top of four sets of punitive measures imposed by the UN Security Council.
The UN sanctions authorise states to conduct high-seas inspections of vessels suspected of ferrying banned items to Iran and added 40 entities to a list of people and groups subject to travel restrictions and financial sanctions. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
