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BRUSSELS: European Union states are discussing a British sanctions proposal against Iran that notably calls for a ban on shipping and a “full” freeze on financial transactions with the Islamic Republic’s central bank, European diplomats said Tuesday.“Most [EU] member states are largely supportive” of the proposals, a European diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

Now under discussion is a London proposal to strengthen existing punitive measures in four areas: finance, trade, energy and transport.

The Netherlands has proposed similar ideas.

The hardest-hitting British suggestions, according to an EU diplomat, are a “full freeze on Iran’s central bank, on all its financial transactions,” as well as “a wide sectorial ban on shipping.”

Some EU nations, however, including Spain and Sweden, were concerned that the freeze would be tantamount to a ban on trade.

“But it is not,” a diplomat said.