The United States is determined to push Iranian oil exports to zero, US Special Representative Brian Hook said on Wednesday, through a 'calibrated' approach using maximum economic pressure without lifting oil prices.
Hook warned all ports and insurance companies to steer clear of Iranian ships, which it called a "floating liability" after the imposition of sweeping US sanctions.
"We are going to be continuing our path to zero," Hook said.
"We do want to achieve maximum pressure without harming friends or allies and we don't want to lift the price of oil. ... We have calibrated this very well."
His comments came after the deputy head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, said that his country can flourish under sanctions and would defeat the United States in the economic war.
The United States resumed sanctions on Iran's oil, shipping and banking industries on Monday after President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal earlier this year. It granted temporary exemptions to eight countries allowing them to continue importing Iranian oil, although it said the ultimate goal is to completely halt exports from Iran.
Trump said during a press conference on Wednesday that his administration granted the temporary waivers in order to stop the price of oil from going up.
