Tehran (GNP): Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed Washington’s newly announced sanctions package against Iran, arguing that the United States has made similarly sweeping threats for over a decade without success.
“We have seen this movie before. Same bull. Different bullies,” Araghchi said, listing a string of past US warnings he described as failures, including a 2012 pledge of “most crippling sanctions in history,” a 2018 declaration of “maximum pressure,” and a demand for “unconditional surrender” issued five months ago.
Araghchi’s remarks followed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s announcement that Washington is preparing what officials are calling the toughest sanctions package ever imposed on Iran, a move Bessent framed as an alternative to renewed large-scale military action against Tehran.
Bessent said full details would be unveiled at a press briefing on Monday, describing the approach as a combination of the naval blockade already in place since April and the new financial penalties, which he predicted would be enough to force the collapse of the Iranian government without additional military strikes.
The 2012 remark Araghchi referenced traces back to then-Vice President Joe Biden, who said during a campaign event that “these are the most crippling sanctions in the history of sanctions, period,” a comment later shared by former President Barack Obama on October 12, 2012. Araghchi’s invocation of that line, alongside more recent warnings from successive US administrations, was intended to cast the latest sanctions push as part of a familiar pattern rather than a genuinely new form of pressure.
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Iran’s foreign ministry had already rejected the sanctions before Bessent’s comments were made public, calling the economic pressure a form of terrorism and insisting it would not weaken the country’s resolve to defend its sovereignty. Araghchi added to that position by arguing that Washington’s threats were designed less to change Iranian policy and more to distract American voters from domestic economic troubles, including mounting national debt and rising interest rates.
The dispute comes as Washington’s sanctions strategy leans heavily on cooperation from China, which purchases more than eighty percent of Iran’s exported oil according to 2025 industry data. Bessent has pointed to China’s reliance on Gulf energy suppliers as reason to expect Beijing’s alignment with US policy, though a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington has pushed back, stating that sanctions and pressure do not resolve underlying disputes and calling instead for political and diplomatic channels to settle the issue.
The announcement has already rattled oil markets, pushing prices to a three-week high as traders weigh the prospect of tighter restrictions on a conflict now stretching nearly six months, one that has seen two previous ceasefire attempts, in April and June, collapse shortly after they were announced.
Managing Editor at Global News Pakistan (GNP), with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Riphah International University, graduated with a Gold Medal. Reach out at sabahtareengnp@gmail.com
