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.