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France says it is convinced Iran is developing nuclear weapons and should face "stricter sanctions".

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he had no doubt that Tehran was pursuing the nuclear path.

He urged EU countries to follow the US in implementing a freeze of Iranian central bank assets and an embargo on Iranian oil exports.

Iran denies Western charges that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons and says its programme is peaceful.

Iran has maintained that it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity to meet growing domestic demand.

In November, the US, Canada and the UK announced new sanctions against Iran in the wake of the report from the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that said Iran had carried out tests related to "development of a nuclear device".