Iran is no stranger to Western threats and sanctions; Iran's almost categorical response is to dismiss such measures as insignificant and having no impact. In this respect, the Iranian response to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s May 21 speech, in which he threatened the “severest sanctions in history” against Iran unless it capitulates to demands related to its foreign policy as well as nuclear and missile programs, is no different. Pompeo’s words, like those of other American radicals, can be expected to have one definitive impact on Iran’s political stage: the strengthening of hard-liners.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif were the first to respond to Pompeo’s speech. Rouhani said the United States was moving 15 years back in time, to the era of President George W. Bush, and repeating the same statements as in 2003 — adding that "the world today does not accept that the United States decides for the world. Countries have their independence.” Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement May 21 in which it described Pompeo’s remarks as blatant interference in Iran’s internal affairs. On the same day, Zarif tweeted, “US diplomacy sham is merely a regression to old habits: imprisoned by delusions & failed policies — dictated by corrupt Special Interest — it repeats the same wrong choices and will thus reap the same ill rewards.” Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on May 22 said Pompeo’s remarks were not worthy of a response, adding that Zarif had provided enough of an answer.

But what were the past “ill rewards” of US policy that both Rouhani and Zarif referred to? The collapse of the nuclear negotiations between Iran and European powers in 2003-05 due to US pressure had important repercussions for Iranian politics and policy.

On the domestic front then, the downfall of diplomacy led to the weakening of the Reform movement while empowering Iranian hard-liners. This became especially evident in the 2005 presidential elections, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the most hard-line among the candidates, scored a surprise win. In terms of Iran’s nuclear program, the plans drawn up by the George W. Bush administration not only failed to stop it, but in effect accelerated it: Iran went from having just 200 centrifuges to some 20,000 — all while being under sanctions. The Islamic Republic additionally increased its level of uranium enrichment to 19.75%. In 2013, after Rouhani came to office and as he was facing the Barack Obama administration, Iran and the West entered a new round of negotiations, which resulted in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).