Iran denied on Tuesday, Sept 25, a claim by the U.S. Treasury that its state oil company is linked to the country's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Reuters reported.

The designation, made in a Treasury report to Congress, enables the United States to apply new sanctions on foreign banks dealing with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), one of the world's largest oil exporters.

The move is part of a wider net of oil-related sanctions by Washington aimed at forcing Iran to curb the nuclear program which the West says is aimed at developing weapons. Tehran says its nuclear work is purely for peaceful purposes.

"We strongly deny these false allegations," said Alireza Nikzad-Rahbar, a spokesman for Iran's Oil Ministry.

The IRGC, Iran's elite military force, has long been under US sanctions for what it defines as terrorism and human rights abuses.