The U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, remarked that “the U.S. is not looking to grant any sanctions relief until we have a final deal with the Iranian regime that addresses the range of threats they present to peace and security”. Hook went on to assert that “we have a lot of confidence that we have put in place the right strategy to starve the regime of the revenue that it needs to behave like an expansionist revolutionary theocracy… but we also know that we need to put this sanctions architecture in place to compel them, to pressure them to come back to the negotiating table. Without the policy we put in place, both of those things are impossible”. “We think that our pressure is greater than their resistance”, he added.