WASHINGTON, Oct 26: The Bush administration’s attempt to impose sweeping sanctions on Iran met its first major hurdle on Friday when oil reached a new all-time record high of above $92 a barrel in New York.

Experts predicted that it may go above $100 a barrel if the market continues to be jittery over the US move.

On Thursday, the United States announced new sanctions against Iran, designating Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and its elite Quds force a supporter of terrorism in the Middle East.

The sanctions include measures aimed at isolating three Iranian state-owned banks and more than 20 Iranian entities, including individuals and companies.

The measures could also hurt the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline as the Revolutionary Guards Corps has the contract to build the pipeline up to the Pakistani border.

The move marks the first time the United States has targeted another country’s military with sanctions.

Iran has said that the sanctions violate international law and are “doomed to fail.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised the US decision, saying the sanctions threaten to make the situation worse.

Meanwhile, in its lead article on Friday, The Washington Post warned that a military strike against Iran would have dire consequences in petroleum markets.

The small amount of excess oil production capacity worldwide would provide an insufficient cushion if armed conflict disrupted supplies, warned the Post quoting oil experts.