France, Germany and the U.K. - the so-called E.U.3 - are proposing a tough list of additional sanctions to be imposed against Iran in order to give the Obama administration more muscle in its expected engagement of the Islamic republic, The Financial Times reports Thursday.
A confidential document seen by The Financial Times and Il Riformista, an Italian newspaper, lists 34 Iranian entities and 10 individuals allegedly linked to Iran's covert nuclear or biological weapons programs.
European diplomats confirmed the existence of the list but differed over the reasoning behind it. Some said it was intended to provide Washington with a "bigger stick" option in continuation of the existing carrot-and-stick approach. Others said the E.U.3 wanted to influence a more hardline outcome of Washington's current review of its Iran policy, expected to be completed next month.