“If one day [the United States] want to prevent the export of Iran’s oil, then no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf”, Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, said on 4 November in a televised speech during a trip to the northern Iranian city of Shahroud. He added “America should know that we are selling our oil and will continue to sell our oil and they are not able to stop our oil exports”. On the same day, Iranian Vice President, Eshaq Jahangiri, said that US sanctions were hitting vulnerable people in Iran. Addressing a press brief, Brian Hook, the US representative for Iran policy, dismissed Rouhani’s threat, noting that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Hook added “the strait is an international waterway. The United States will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce in international waterways”.