The US on Thursday announced the first financial sanctions since President Donald Trump took office, targeting an “international network” accused of shipping Iranian oil to China to fund Tehran’s military activities.

The sanctions target “an international network that facilitates the transfer of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to China,” the US Treasury Department said in a statement, AFP reported.

It is part of a US policy to tighten sanctions on Iran amid strained relations between Tehran and Western capitals over its nuclear programme and regional policies in the Middle East.