The US has imposed new sanctions on 35 groups and individuals involved in Iran's covert financial network, known as "shadow banking". The move comes after the US imposed sanctions on an independent "teapot" refinery in China for buying billions of dollars' worth of Iranian oil. The State Department accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian military forces of illegally using the international financial system to profit from the sale of sanctioned oil, gather missile and weapon components, and fund terror proxies. The sanctions, which freeze the US assets of designated individuals and prevent Americans from doing business with them, have also deterred some larger independent refiners from buying Iranian crude.