U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the European Union’s agreement to ban oil imports from Iran and to freeze assets of the Iranian central bank are a “strong step” to “dramatically increase the pressure on Iran” and are consistent with steps the U.S. has taken.

“Taken in combination with the many other sanctions on Iran that continue to be implemented by the United States and the international community, this new, concerted pressure will sharpen the choice for Iran’s leaders and increase their cost of defiance of basic international obligations,” Geithner and Clinton said in a joint statement today.