The US has imposed new sanctions targeting companies, exchange houses and financial facilitators it claims helped Iran secretly move hundreds of millions of dollars through the international financial system, Anadolu reports.

“Teapot refinery purchases of Iranian oil provide the primary economic lifeline for the Iranian regime, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says in a statement.

In a separate statement, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott says the measures are intended to “cut the financial lifelines that sustain Iran’s ruling elite”.

“Through these networks, Tehran accessed oil revenue and evaded sanctions designed to curb its destabilising activities, laundering funds using front companies,” Pigott alleges.​​​​​​​