The US slams fresh sanctions on Iranians accused of funneling money to elite armed forces

The US has imposed new sanctions on Iran, the first since President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal.

The new measures target six individuals and three companies said to be funneling millions of dollars towards an elite unite of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The US Treasury Department, acting jointly with the UAE, also accused Iran's central bank of helping the IRGC access hundreds of millions in US currency which it held in foreign banks to avoid crippling sanctions.

"The Iranian regime and its central bank have abused access to entities in the UAE to acquire US dollars to fund the IRGC's malign activities, including to fund and arm its regional proxy groups, by concealing the purpose for which the US dollars were acquired," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

Iran's central bank was not formally sanctioned in the action, but the Treasury has recently said it will reimpose a number of widespread sanctions aimed at crippling oil and banking sectors in the coming months.