US President Donald Trump agreed to increase US economic pressure on Iran during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last week, Axios reported on Saturday.
The pressure will be focused mostly on oil sales to China, two US officials told the outlet.
Currently, more than 80% of Iran's oil exports go to China. Therefore, if the asian country decides not to source its oil from Iran, economic pressure on Tehran would increase significantly, Axios reported.
"We agreed that we will go full force with maximum pressure against Iran, for example, regarding Iranian oil sales to China," a senior US official said. Trump recently signed an executive order that will allow the United States to increase economic pressure on the Islamic Republic.
Trump's executive order authorizes the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce to recommend that the US president impose tariffs of up to 25% on any country that does business with Iran.
According to Axios, if Trump decides to act, the economic pressure could change Iran's economic reality and push Tehran to make more concessions regarding its nuclear program.
The pressure comes amid an ongoing US military buildup in the Middle East, with possible strikes if diplomacy fails.
While Iran is a major oil producer, markets are more concerned about regional disruptions that could occur if Iran decides to interrupt oil flows from other countries.
Leaders disagree over how to conduct economic pressure on Iran
Even after Netanyahu and Trump agreed on their meeting about the necessity of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the leaders reportedly disagreed about how the necessary actions to block Tehran's nuclear actions would take place.
US officials said that the Israeli prime minister highlighted to Trump that it is impossible to make a good deal with Tehran, claiming that even if they got to sign a deal, the Islamic Republic will not abide by it, Axios reported.
"We'll see if it's possible. Let's give it a shot," Trump said, according to a US official.
After recent advice conversations with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, both advisers told Trump that reaching an agreement with Iran would be hard, but not impossible.
"We are sober and realistic about the Iranians. The ball is in their court. If it is not a real deal, we will not take it," a US official said.
According to Axios, on Tuesday, Witkoff and Kushner will meet the Iranians in Geneva for a second round of negotiations.