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Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, which handles most of Japan's payments for oil imports from Iran, said on Thursday it had frozen transactions with Iranian banks after being ordered to do so by the New York District Court earlier this month.

The move stems from a U.S. court decision in 2007 that ordered Iran to pay more than $2.6 billion to survivors and victims' family members of the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon, a bank spokesman said.

The U.S. Senate will consider new Iran sanctions on Thursday with the chamber's Democratic leader, Harry Reid, set to seek approval of a new package of oil and economic sanctions aimed at further pressuring Iran to abandon its nuclear program, a Democratic leadership aide told Reuters.