France is convinced Iran
is developing nuclear weapons and should face "stricter sanctions",
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has said.
He urged EU countries to follow the US in freezing Iranian central bank assets and imposing an embargo on oil exports.
Iran has dismissed the threat of sanctions. On Tuesday, it
denied that a record low of its currency was linked to US punitive
measures.
It also denies Western charges that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Tehran says its programme is peaceful - 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".
But Iran was not referred to the UN Security Council because Russia and China were opposed to the move.
January deadline
"Iran is pursuing the development of its nuclear arms, I have no doubt about it," Mr Juppe told French television I-Tele.
Continue reading the main story Analysis
James Reynolds
BBC Iran correspondent
With the latest military exercises, Iran wanted to show it is a
pretty powerful country and that sanctions won't get in the way of the
military.
This is old-fashioned military strength - not a display of nuclear might.
Last week Iran's vice-president suggested that if the West
tried to impose sanctions on Iran's oil industry, then Iran may shut the
Strait of Hormuz - a narrow 30 mile-wide (48km) channel off Iran's
southern coast through which about 20% of the world's seabourne oil
passes. But Iran could not shut it on its own - the US Fifth Fleet is
nearby in Bahrain and they wouldn't tolerate that.
And if Iran did try to do it, the country it would hurt most
would be itself because Iran's government gets money and stays in power
because of the sale of oil.
"The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency is quite explicit on this point."
Mr Juppe said France wanted the sanctions against Iran toughened further.
He said President Nicolas Sarkozy had already proposed "the
freezing of Iranian central bank assets, a tough measure, and the second
an embargo on Iranian oil exports".
"We want the Europeans to take a similar step by January 30 to show our determination," he said.
The UN Security Council has already passed four rounds of sanctions against Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment.
Highly enriched uranium can be processed into nuclear weapons.
The US had already sanctioned dozens of Iranian government agencies, officials and businesses over the nuclear programme.
The government in Tehran has dismissed the latest measures imposed in the wake of the IAEA report in November.
However, following a new low recorded on Sunday and Monday in
the country's national currency compared to the US dollar, the
government said the dip was not linked to the latest US sanctions
targeting the central bank.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the US sanctions "have yet to be put into practice".
US President Barack Obama signed into law the US bill
targeting Iran's central bank on Saturday. It enters into force in six
months' time.
Military bluster
Iran has also been holding a series of naval exercises in the
Gulf, and on Monday said it had successfully test-fired a shore-to-sea
Qader cruise missile, a shorter range Nasr and later, a surface-to
surface Nour missile.
Continue reading the main story November sanctions against Iran
- The US named Iran as an area of "primary money laundering
concern" to dissuade non-US banks from dealing with Tehran. It also
blacklisted 11 entities suspected of aiding Iran's nuclear programme.
Expanded sanctions to target companies that aid Iran's oil and
petrochemical industries.
- Britain ordered all British financial institutions to stop
doing business with their Iranian counterparts, including the central
bank.
- Canada said it would immediately ban the export to Iran of all goods used in the petrochemical, oil and gas industries.
A medium-range surface-to-air missile was successfully launched on Sunday, Iranian media reported.
Iran has conducted 10 days of exercises near the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil passes.
Tehran said on Monday that "mock" exercises on shutting the
strait had been carried out, although there was no intention of closing
it.
The BBC's Iran correspondent James Reynolds says Iran is
using the exercises to try to show that it owns the Gulf and has the
military capability to defend any threat to its dominance.
But, says our correspondent, few believe Iran would carry out
its threat to shut the Strait of Hormuz as to do so would be considered
too economically, politically and possibly militarily damaging for
Tehran.