Iran rejects US ‘suffocation’ claim, says sanctions addiction exposes Washington’s policy failure
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has strongly rejected the US Treasury Secretary’s boast of “suffocating” Iran through economic sanctions, describing the claim as both pathetic and clear evidence of America’s compulsive addiction to coercive measures.
In a statement on Monday, Baghaei said the American official’s remarks go beyond mere arrogance and reveal a deep-rooted habit in Washington’s foreign policy.
“Beyond its sheer pathos, the claim is a stark testament to America’s compulsive addiction to sanctions,” Baghaei said. “Whenever Washington proves itself incapable of pursuing diplomacy, it retreats into sanctions; and whenever those sanctions fail to produce results, it simply increases the dose.”
He stressed that this approach can no longer be regarded as a coherent policy. “This is no longer ‘policy’—it is ‘habit’; and more dangerously still, it is an addiction that has displaced thought itself.”
The US Secretary of the Treasury has boasted of “suffocating” Iran through economic sanctions.
— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) August 10, 2026
Beyond its sheer pathos, the claim is a stark testament to America’s compulsive addiction to sanctions. Whenever Washington proves itself incapable of pursuing diplomacy, it retreats…
Baghaei underlined Iran’s long-standing resilience in the face of decades of US economic warfare. “Iran has demonstrated over decades that it will not be strangled by these exhausted refrains,” he said.
The spokesman warned that the real danger lies with American politicians themselves. By clinging to failed sanctions, he said, they risk “strangling their own remaining chances of a less humiliating exit from a crisis of their own making.”
The remarks come as the United States continues to rely heavily on unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic, despite repeated failures to force political concessions from Tehran.
Iranian officials have consistently maintained that such pressure tactics only strengthen the nation’s resolve and expose the bankruptcy of Washington’s confrontational approach.
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