The United States is working to move as much oil as possible through the Strait of Hormuz to rebuild global reserves in case President Donald Trump decides to restart military operations against Iran, a senior American official said.

The official said Washington believes it is taking limited risks by agreeing this week to a memorandum of understanding with Tehran, because most sanctions relief would only be provided if Iran agrees to concessions during nuclear negotiations expected to take place over the next two months.

“In the meantime… we’re working to get as much oil out of there as possible and to let everyone restock global supplies and help everyone get into position for if Iran misbehaves and there has to be another round of efforts,” the senior US official says during a briefing with reporters.

The official said representatives from both sides are expected to meet this weekend in Switzerland, where the MOU is scheduled to be formally signed Friday. The meeting, he said, “will be quite critical in order to see how we get to the next phase.”

The talks will take place at a Swiss hotel owned by Qatar, which shares a major gas field with Iran, the official noted.

“It will be a very good illustration to show that with the money that comes out of this gas field, [it] can either be used to buy great properties that give you cash flow and returns to reinvest in your population… or you could fund terrorism, which basically has led to destruction and devastation that makes them much worse off,” the senior US official says.

The official argued that the United States entered negotiations from a stronger position following the war, while Iran has been significantly weakened.

“If we think that they’re just dragging us along and bullshitting us, then we’ll be very quick to pull the plug on it and go back to tightening the screws on them very, very aggressively,” the US official says.

The official also said new direct communication channels have been created between senior Trump administration figures and Iranian officials, including IRGC leaders and religious figures, “who have opened up channels of communication expressing the desire to do something different than what they’ve done before.”

US officials had previously confirmed direct contacts with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, but this appeared to be the first public acknowledgment from a Trump official of communication with IRGC representatives or Iranian clerics.

Asked to explain Trump’s earlier statement that the MOU was not final, the senior US official insisted that the agreement itself is finalized, suggesting the president may have been referring to the larger nuclear agreement that still needs to be negotiated.