Countries buying oil from Iran should prepare to halt all imports of it starting in November as the United States reimposes sanctions against Tehran, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.

Asked if the United States was pushing allies to cut oil imports to zero by November, the official said, "Yes."

"We're going to isolate streams of Iranian funding and looking to highlight the totality of Iran's malign behavior across the region," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.

The official said a U.S. delegation would head to the Middle East next week to encourage Gulf oil producers to ensure global oil supplies as Iran is cut out of the market as of November.