A general view of an oil dock is seen from a ship at the port of Kalantari in the city of Chabahar, 300km (186 miles) east of the Strait of Hormuz January 17, 2012. The United States has been very careful and successful in applying maximum pressure on Iran through sanctions without allowing a spike in the oil price, U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook told reporters on Wednesday. Speaking at a briefing, Hook said Washington’s “maximum pressure” strategy was also going to apply to escrow accounts holding Iranian oil revenues. He said an expected increase in oil supply in 2019 will help the United States to ask countries to further reduce their imports of Iranian oil.