Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has slammed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over his remarks on the effectiveness of economic sanctions against Iran, saying Washington’s policy is driven by “delusions” that have repeatedly led to failure.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Araghchi recalled similar remarks made eight years ago by then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had said that Iranians would have to follow Washington’s demands “if they want to eat.”

“8 years ago a cartoon character like Pompeo said Iranians must follow White House diktat “if they want to eat”,” he said.

Araghchi added, “Today, Rubio—whose fellow Cubans are victims of the same policy—repeats that drivel. Forget about the inhumanity. It is the delusions that are producing failed US policy.”

Rubio said on Tuesday that he saw no need to resume major military aggression against Iran, claiming that economic sanctions and other restrictions were proving highly effective.

“Eventually, you have to eat, you have to pay your own fighters, your own security forces,” Rubio insisted, referring to the impact of US economic pressure on Iran.

The illusion of ‘maximum pressure’: New US sanctions against Iran recycle a failed strategy with same old results

The latest US sanctions on Iran repackage the failed “maximum pressure” campaign, despite four decades of Iranian adaptation, Washington’s irreparable credibility deficit, and mounting costs to American consumers and global stability, all of which demonstrate that sanctions have failed to achieve their objectives and are unlikely ever to do so.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, successive US administrations have imposed waves of economic sanctions against Iran, repeatedly seeking to weaken the Islamic Republic, undermine its stability, and force it into submission. Despite decades of escalating economic pressure, Washington has failed to achieve these objectives.

Instead, the repeated resort to economic coercion has exposed the failure of Washington’s pressure strategy, with successive administrations continuing to impose new restrictions despite the inability of previous rounds to deliver their intended political outcomes.