Belgium ? The European Union tightened trade sanctions against Iran on Friday for defying a long-standing international demand to freeze uranium enrichment.

The new EU restrictions go slightly beyond existing U.N. trade sanctions and are designed to deny public loans or export credits to companies trading with Iran. France, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said European governments would also carefully watch financial groups doing business with Iranian banks and step up checks on ships and airplanes traveling to Iran.

“This resolution expands the range of restrictive measures adopted by the U.N. Security Council,” an EU statement said. It called on member nations to “show restraint when granting new public loans for trade with Iran … (and) to also be vigilant on activities taken by financial institutions with banks based in Iran.”