Iranians turns Latest Sanctions Imposed by U.S. to Mockery

“Are there really any sanctions that the U.S. hasn’t imposed against our country and people in the past 40 years?” a foreign ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, asked reporters in Tehran. “And what did it achieve?”

An Iranian calling himself K. Jafari wrote in a widely circulated tweet: “The only people left to sanction are me, my dad and our neighbor’s kid. The foreign ministry should share Trump’s phone number so we can call him and give him our names.”

In contrast to the threats and bluster of Tehran’s previous responses to the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign, Iranians across the political spectrum dismissed the latest embargoes on Monday as little more than insults. Both hard-liners and reformers argued that the new sanctions would have little practical impact, aside from undermining Mr. Trump’s repeated assertions that he is seeking to renew talks with Tehran, if only to restrict its nuclear weapons program.

It was in response to those actions that the Iranian government announced that for the first time in four years it would restart the steps that could lead to the development of a nuclear weapon. Iran had agreed to restrictions limiting its nuclear research as part of a 2015 deal with the United States and other international powers. Mr. Trump withdrew from the deal last year with a vow to negotiate a stricter one.

How the Iranian leaders might respond in the coming days remains to be seen. Even before the addition of the new sanctions targeting individuals, the Iranian economy was under severe pressure from the previous round of restrictions and penalties. Announced in April, those actions sought to cut off all Iranian oil sales, targeting the lifeblood of the Iranian economy.

Since the Trump administration imposed the oil sanctions, the White House has also accused Iran of using naval mines to damage six tankers in two incidents in the waters around the Persian Gulf. Last week the Revolutionary Guards also shot down an American surveillance drone, and the United States came within minutes of carrying out a retaliatory missile strike against Iran before Mr. Trump called it off.

“U.S.’s claim that it wants negotiations without preconditions, while it increases sanctions and pressure, is not acceptable,” said Hesameddin Ashena, an adviser to President Hassan Rouhani, who is also considered a moderate voice within the political system.

If Washington wants something more than the existing nuclear deal, “then it must offer us more than the deal with international guarantees,” Mr. Ashena said.