Azernews.Az

Iran's oil ministry has denied the reports that it's subsidiary National Iranian Oil Company is being controlled by the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guards Council), Mehr news agency reported.

Oil Ministry spokesman Ali Reza Nikzad said that the reports were completely false, as the NIOC works under the government's wing.

The Obama administration on Monday linked Iran's state oil company to the country's elite Revolutionary Guard, a focus of U.S. sanctions for its support of terrorism and human rights abuses, according to a news report.

According to Reuters, the report has been submitted to the Congress by the Treasury department.

Bloomberg earlier reported that Treasury officials did not find the major carrier of Iranian crude, the National Iranian Tanker Co, or NITC, to have close enough ties to the IRGC for it to be sanctioned.

Congress directed the department to determine whether Iran's oil and tanker companies were linked to IRGC as part of a new package of sanctions, signed into law in August.

The United States and the EU are restricting purchases of Iranian oil because they suspect Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is strictly for civilian purposes.