The U.S. and Europe are working on new coordinated measures intended to accelerate the recent plunge of Iran’s currency and drain its foreign-exchange reserves, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, October 4. The first salvos in this stepped-up sanctions campaign are expected at a meeting of E.U. foreign ministers on Oct. 15, including a ban on Iranian natural-gas exports and tighter restrictions on transactions with Tehran’s central bank. A number of additional banks are also expected to be targeted, in the continuing effort to press Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to curb his country’s nuclear program. The U.S. and EU are also considering imposing a de facto trade embargo early next year by moving to block all export and import transactions through Iran’s banking system—which could further choke off Tehran's access to foreign currency.