Azernews.Az

The EU on Monday decided to tighten the sanctions against Iran, the press service of the EU Council said, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The EU has extended the restriction measures for 12 more months in response to serious violations of human rights in Iran.

The Council has added nine more individuals responsible for serious violations of human rights to the list of those banned from entering (the EU) and whose assets (in the EU) are frozen.

The document says that the total number of individuals is now 87 people, and adds that the Foreign Ministers of the EU also decided to freeze the assets of "one (Iranian) company", responsible for violating human rights.

The new sanctions will come into effect from March 13, following an official publication in the official EU journal.

The United Nations reported last week that Iran has stepped up executions of prisoners including juveniles as well as arrests of dissidents who are often tortured in jail, sometimes to death, according to Reuters.

The new EU sanctions are separate from measures imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme which governments in the EU and elsewhere suspect has a covert military dimension.

The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical researches instead.