The Treasury Department slapped sanctions Tuesday on the financial network behind an Iranian paramilitary group that recruits child soldiers to fight in regional conflicts in the Middle East.

The network, which consists of 20 corporations and financial institutions, provides financial support for the Basij Resistance Force that operates under the supervision of the Islamic Republic’s elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the Treasury Department said.

They use shell companies to hide Basij ownership and control a wide variety of multibillion-dollar interests in the country’s automotive, banking, mining and metals industries.

“This vast network provides financial infrastructure to the Basij’s efforts to recruit, train, and indoctrinate child soldiers who are coerced into combat under the IRGC’s direction,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The Basij, which operates in every Iranian city, is involved in a number of human rights abuses and provides combat training to children as young as 12, who are then used to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

This action “highlights that this Iranian regime is not a normal government,” a senior administration official said.

“Normal governments don’t have revolutionary arms that support revolution and wreak havoc with their neighbors,” the official said. “They don’t recruit indoctrinate and use child soldiers.”

The sanctions prohibit US companies from doing business with the companies and freeze any assets they have in the US.

The penalties come as the Trump administration is ready to unveil another round of sanctions against Iran’s oil products on Nov. 4.

President Trump withdrew in May from a nuclear deal brokered by President Barack Obama in 2015 and reinstated sanctions against the country.