New York, May 1 -- :In a crackdown on Iranian exports, the US has sanctioned four United Arab Emirates-based companies that have trade links with Indian companies for allegedly trading in Iranian petroleum products.

"So long as Iran attempts to generate oil and petrochemical revenues to fund its destabilising activities and support its terrorist activities and proxies, the United States will take steps to hold both Iran and all its partners engaged in sanctions evasion accountable," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday.

The State Department said that it was imposing sanctions on those companies "for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petrochemic...