EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Friday that she will announce in the "coming days" a time and place for talks with Iran on its nuclear program to start. Diplomats say that is likely to be in mid-April, The Wall Street Journal quoted Dow Jones as reporting.
Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers agreed Friday to add 17 Iranians to its sanctions list for human rights abuses and signed off on a legal text that details how they will implement an oil embargo on Iran.
The 17 new human rights sanctions targets will be subject to a travel ban and asset freeze. Ministers also extended by a year the rights sanctions so they are now valid until April 13, 2013. The list of sanctions targets will be published Saturday, the EU said.
At a meeting in Brussels, foreign ministers also agreed a ban on the export of equipment and software to Iran that can be used to monitor or intercept telecommunications.
The foreign ministers also approved the legal text which will enforce a major broadening of Iranian sanctions that was agreed in January over its nuclear activities.
Among the January measures was a ban on Iranian exports of crude oil, sanctions on its central bank and a ban on trade in gold.
The measures come ahead of fresh talks between Tehran and six major powers on its nuclear program. While Ashton promised a date for the talks soon, U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said he expected them to begin in "the next few weeks."
The legal text, which took two months to agree was finalized late Thursday after a deal allowing European companies to continue offering insurance on shipments of Iranian oil exports until July 1. That is the date when the full oil embargo comes into effect.
The text will also detail how exemptions to the central bank sanctions will operate. The EU has said it wants to allow legitimate, non-energy-related trade to continue with Iranian firms.
The U.S. and some EU member states say Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.
On his way into the EU meeting Friday, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said he hoped a diplomatic solution could be found to the nuclear issue but warned there wouldn't be a "quick solution of the issues."
In comments that seemed aimed at Israel, Bildt also warned any country against taking action that could derail the talks.
"I sincerely hope that no-one wants to blow up the diplomatic process. That would be an act of international irresponsibility of the first order," he said.
Israeli officials have warned they won't wait a long time before considering military action against Iran's nuclear program.