The European Union and United States have announced separate programmes of sanctions against Iran and its interests around the world, stepping up the pressure on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over his country's nuclear programme.

At a meeting in Luxembourg today, EU foreign ministers voted for a total arms embargo against Iran, compared to the partial ban brought by the United Nations in December last year.

In addition, European leaders agreed to impose a more extensive travel ban, with a larger list of people alleged to be involved in Iran's programme to be prevented from entering European waters than that agreed to by the UN.

In a day of growing pressure on the Iranian President, the US state department this afternoon also took the unusual step of announcing that it was imposing sanctions on 14 people, companies and Government agencies - including the Syrian navy and air force - which it says either buy or sell Iranian weapons.

The list also includes the Iranian-funded Shia Islamist group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and firms from China, Malaysia, Mexico and Singapore.

While many of the names on the list are largely symbolic because they are already subjected to US sanctions, it is the first time that the Syrian navy and air force have ever been named.

Despite growing international pressure Mr Ahmadinejad remained defiant today, giving a round of interviews to broadcasters and news agencies in Tehran in which he asserted that enriching uranium was the country's "right" and that it would continue.

He also demanded that EU leaders pursue a different policy to the US, and rejected a demand by the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana that Iran stop enriching uranium in exchange for a suspension of the newly-agreed EU sanctions. Mr Solana is due to meet Iran's chief negotiator Ali Larijani in Turkey on Wednesday, where he is expected to lay down his demands.

Speaking to the news agency Reuters today, the Iranian President said: “Iran will not accept it (the EU demand) because the sanctions are not legal, so you cannot ask a country to suspend its legal activities in return for a suspension of an illegal move."

Demanding the EU change its position, he later told Spanish state television station TVE: “If the European Union wants to play an appropriate role in international relations, it should act independently."

Mr Solana had earlier said he hoped that Wednesday's talks would bring the sides closer together. “I expect to begin resumption of the talks that we left some time ago to see if we can move towards negotiations,” he told reporters.

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