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European Union foreign ministers have ramped up sanctions against President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime in Belarus, at a meeting that is also expected to tighten sanctions on Iran, Radio Liberty reported.

Meeting in Luxembourg, the ministers added 16 new names to a list of 192 Belarusian individuals barred from EU entry.

Most of them are judges who have sentenced individuals protesting against the regime since a flawed presidential election in December 2010.

"The way the opposition is being treated in Belarus, the repression is in no way acceptable and it is important that the EU act together with great conviction," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said ahead of the meeting.

Ministers also agreed that the current sanctions -- set to expire at the end of October -- will be prolonged for another year.

That decision was made easier after Minsk's no-show at the recent Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw. The Belarusian delegation boycotted the meeting, accusing Poland of taking "unprecedented discriminatory steps" against Belarus for not inviting Lukashenka.

There will, however, be a discussion about the criteria for the sanctions. Up to now, people involved and responsible for the crackdown on the protests that followed the December election have been targeted.

But now, EU foreign ministers are expected to look at ways to broaden the sanctions' scope, to potentially encompass people who give economic support to the regime. A decision is not expected on October 10, as some EU member states, such as Lithuania, are wary of hurting business ties with their neighbor.

Putting pressure on Tehran
At their meeting today, ministers are also set to almost double the number of Iranians on the EU's visa ban list.

In March, the EU blacklisted 32 Iranians with close ties to the Islamic regime from entering the EU and imposed a freeze on any assets they might have in the bloc. European foreign ministers are expected to add another 29 names to that list at their meeting in Luxembourg.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague told journalists before the meeting that the EU would put pressure on Iran by adding names to the list.

"We will be discussing Iran and increasing the pressure on Iran to improve its appalling human rights record," Hague said. "We are discussing additional measures in top of those we have already taken to place that pressure on Iran."

Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton, told Radio Liberty that Brussels could impose stronger measures in the future.

"Given that the situation is actually deteriorating, we will look again very closely. We have seen a number of high-level cases recently," Kocijancic said. "We will look at the situation again and assess if there is need for further action."

Ukraine will also loom large on the EU agenda, with a verdict in the trial of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko expected just one day later. The foreign ministers will review various responses depending on the proceedings' outcome.

But according to sources Radio Liberty has spoken to, the signing of the Deep and Comprehensive Free-Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement between Brussels and Kyiv might be imperiled if the trial's result is viewed as unfair.

During the Eastern Partnership summit, it was agreed that the signing could take place during the EU-Ukraine summit in December and that all technical aspects should be agreed upon by the end of this month.

Poland has pushed hard for the signing to be achieved during its six-month EU presidency, which ends in December. But several countries, headed by France and Germany, could push for a slowdown in light of the Tymoshenko case.

Diplomats that Radio Liberty has spoken to say that except for Poland, Ukraine doesn't have another champion in the EU that is willing to back a quick deal any time soon. "Kyiv hasn't really helped itself," a council source said.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis said that he hoped that the agreement would be signed swiftly but maintained that the EU remained concerned about the situation.

"We think that this agreement should be signed as soon as possible. That is one point," Azubalis said. "The second point is that in the same time we should press Ukraine on human rights and on the Yulia Tymoshenko case."

Kocijancic refused to speculate on the various options to be discussed but underlined that the EU remains concerned about the situation.

"The EU has made its position regarding the case of Yulia Tymoshenko very clear. We are against the selective use of law," Kocijancic said.

"We have repeatedly called for a transparent trial in line with all the procedures and we have expressed our extreme concern about the developments that we have seen and we continue to do so. We are monitoring this very closely."