US national security adviser John Bolton pledged Tuesday to exert "maximum pressure" on Iran, a week after a new series of harsh sanctions against Tehran came into effect.
US President Donald Trump has stepped up pressure on Tehran, announcing its withdrawal from an international agreement aimed at ending its nuclear program and breaking several US sanctions.
The latest package was considered the harshest sanctions to date, aimed at drastically cutting Iran's oil exports and depriving Iran's banks of access to international financial markets.
"We consider the government to be under real pressure and our goal is to press them very strongly and even exert maximum pressure," Bolton said in Singapore, where he is attending the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
He added: "We will increase the application of sanctions significantly also," according to Agence France-Presse.
The other parties to the nuclear deal signed in 2015 - Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia - have strongly opposed re-imposing sanctions and vowed to work to save it.
"There is no doubt that Iran is trying to find ways to avoid sanctions in the oil sector and financial markets," Bolton said. "Most of the European countries have gone through a state of denial and anger, while others have accepted that we are no longer a party to the deal."
