Total has become the latest big oil company to halt petrol sales to Iran, just days before Barack Obama, the US president, signs into law sanctions targeted at Tehran's reliance on imported petroleum.
The French energy group joined BP, Royal Dutch Shell and all the big oil traders in shunning Tehran before the unilateral US sanctions came into force.
The legislation, which won final approval last week by overwhelming margins in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, imposes penalties on international groups that help provide Iran with refined oil, and on banks that do business with blacklisted Iranian institutions.
Both Mr Obama and Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, have welcomed the measure, although the administration had sought more latitude in implementing the sanctions.
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday he was alarmed by U.S. assertions that Iran may have enough fuel for two nuclear weapons and warned that if confirmed the Islamic Republic may face new measures.

Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta told ABC's "This Week" television program that the agency thinks Iran has enough low-enriched uranium now for two weapons, but that Tehran would have to further enrich the material first.
"As to this information -- it needs to be checked," Medvedev told reporters in Toronto, where he was attending the Group of 20 summit of rich and emerging nations.
"In any case, such information is always alarming because today the international community does not recognize the Iranian nuclear program as transparent," Medvedev said
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Leon Panetta, director of Central Intelligence Agency warned that Iran has now enough low-enriched uranium for two nuclear bombs. Panetta made his comments in an exclusive interview on ABC´s "This Week" aired Sunday.

Panette said further that Iran would need at least two more years to produce fully operational weapons, if they were to go in that direction. He thinks the recent United Nations sanctions would have some impact, possibly imposing financial difficulties on Iran, but he doubts if they can ultimately put an end to the country´s production of nuclear weapons. "Will it deter them from their ambitions with regards to nuclear capability? Probably not," said him.
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Congress on Thursday approved tough new unilateral sanctions aimed at squeezing Iran's energy and banking sectors, which could also hurt companies from other countries doing business with Tehran.

House of Representatives passed the bill 408-8 and sent it to President Barack Obama for signing into law. The Senate had approved it 99-0 earlier in the day.
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