Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes onlyThe US, UK and Canada have announced new sanctions against Iran amid growing concern over its nuclear programme.
A US official said sanctions would target the Revolutionary Guard, industry and the petrochemicals sector.
The UK said earlier it was cutting all ties with Iranian banks, while Canada said it was banning exports for the petrochemical, oil and gas industries.
A UN report has given the strongest evidence yet that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, but Iran denies it.
Tehran insists its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes.
The report, by the UN's nuclear watchdog (IAEA), said Iran had carried out tests "relevant to the development of a nuclear device".
The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced at a news conference that Iran's petrochemical industry would be targeted, and said sanctions would be imposed on services and goods for Iran's oil and gas industry.
The British Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, had earlier said that all UK credit and financial institutions had to cease trading with Iran's banks from Monday afternoon.
"We believe that the Iranian regime's actions pose a significant threat to the UK's national security and the international community," he said.
"Today's announcement is a further step to preventing the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons."
It is the first time the UK has cut off a country's banking sector in this way.
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 has already slapped sanctions on dozens of Iranian government agencies, officials and businesses over the nuclear programme.
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