The European Union ordered on Tuesday to freeze all the funds and economic resources from the International Development Bank of Venezuela, a subsidiary of Iran's Export Development Bank, for presumed ties with the Iranian nuclear program.

The action, disclosed on Tuesday in the European Union official journal, is directly applicable in all the community countries and it is binding, Efe reported.

The Venezuelan bank, already punished by the US Department of the Treasury, denied on its website any cooperation with nuclear activities in Iran and quoted then President of the Superintendence of Banks and Other Financial Institutions, María Elena Fumero.

According to the senior officer, a review of the agency represented by her did not find "any evidence of these facts."

In addition, she said that the purpose of the entity is to "provide the public with bank services under the license of Universal Bank, in accordance with Venezuelan banking standards and regulations."

Source: ElUniversal.com