US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has stated that Washington will increase economic pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme.
"We have executed on a maximum pressure campaign for sanctions. They have worked, they are working, they are cutting off the money", Mnuchin told reporters, adding that "We will continue to ramp up, more, more, more ... I just came from a very productive working lunch with your team. They gave us a bunch of very specific ideas that we will be following up".
Mnuchin made the comments after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who urged him to intensify pressure on Iran.
Prior to this, US President Donald Trump stated that he has determined there is a sufficient global oil supply to permit a major reduction in Iranian crude exports.
Washington has been ratcheting up sanctions on Iran since last year, targeting the foundations of the Iranian economy.
In late September, the United States imposed another series of sanctions on Iran, including on the country’s central bank, after the attacks on the Saudi Aramco oil facilities.
The United States blames Iran for the attacks, but Tehran has repeatedly denied allegations of its involvement.
