EU Foreign Affairs chief Catherine Ashton said Friday that in addition to the freeze, no funds, including loans, may be made available to the five. The EU did not name the five but Britain on Tuesday took similar action against the two men accused by US authorities of attempting to kill Saudi Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir in a bomb attack, and three others.

US officials have described the plot as a clumsy but serious operation by Iran's elite foreign action unit, the Quds Force.

Ashton said the decision was a precautionary measure.

One of the men charged in the plot has been indicted in New York. The five-count indictment against Manssor Arbabsiar was returned Thursday in federal court in Manhattan. The charges are the same as those contained in an Oct. 11 criminal complaint. An arraignment was scheduled for Monday.

Authorities say the 56-year-old US citizen with an Iranian passport has admitted his role in a $1.5 million plot to kill the ambassador at a restaurant by setting off explosives.

His lawyer hasn't returned a message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The press attache at Iran's mission to the United Nations has called the accusation "baseless."