The sanctions, which took effect on Wednesday, prevent Iran from gaining access to earnings garnered from its crude exports.
The sanctions require the importing countries to keep their payments at home and only release them in return for purchases of goods from them by Iran, to effectively lock up Iranian oil revenue overseas.
Washington has also imposed sanctions against Iranian media organizations and the Iranian Cyber Police, AFP reported.
Iran responded by condemning the measures as yet another act of hostility from the US government.
The latest anti-Iran measures come at a time when Washington has expressed willingness to hold talks with Tehran.
The US has spearheaded several rounds of Western sanctions against Iran in recent years, based on the unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
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Publish Date: 7 February 2013 - 12:45
The United States has imposed new sanctions on Iran’s energy sector in a new attempt to force the Islamic Republic to halt its nuclear energy program.