“We agreed that we will go full force with maximum pressure against Iran, for example, regarding Iranian oil sales to China,” Axios reported on Saturday, quoting a senior US official.

Asked about the report, China’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that “normal cooperation between countries conducted within the framework of international law is reasonable and legitimate, and should be respected and protected.”

China accounts for more than 80% of Iran’s oil exports.

Any reduction in that trade would mean lower oil revenue for Iran.

US and Iranian diplomats held talks on Iran’s nuclear programme through Omani mediators last week in an effort to revive diplomacy, after the US president positioned a naval flotilla in the region as the American military prepares for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran.