TEHRAN - Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman says intensifying economic pressure on the Iranian people is tantamount to a “crime against humanity”.

Esmail Baqaei made the comments in a tweet in reaction to remarks by Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, who had encouraged the U.S. government to ratchet up economic pressure on Iran to cause pain and suffering on the Iranian people.

He said Pelosi has asked Washington to “cripple” Iran’s economy, so that ordinary Iranians – even those in rural areas- would feel “the pain and suffering”. He added that intentional imposition of pain and suffering on civilians to achieve political ends is an example of terrorism.

He underlined that only a “criminal and arrogant mind” can reserve the right to propose policies based on the pain and suffering of civilians in another country.

Baqaei described intensified U.S. economic coercion against Iran as an effort to bring about “regime fall” in the Islamic Republic.

“Legally speaking, this is further evidence of a deliberate & systematic US policy of exacting pain and cruelty on populations it disfavors. Such conduct amounts to ‘crime against humanity,’” the Foreign Ministry spokesman wrote on X.

Pelosi’s remarks have prompted reactions from several commentators.

Political analyst Trita Parsi rejected suggestions that the comments were a “slip of the tongue,” arguing that they reflected the longstanding logic behind U.S. sanctions policy.

Also, journalist Aaron Maté wrote on X that “a key target are ordinary Iranians who support their government.” 

Maté added, “What gives a politician in one country the right to make civilians in another country feel ‘pain?’”

Iranian officials have long denounced U.S. sanctions as collective punishment targeting civilians.

Last month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged the impact of sanctions during remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

In November 2018, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also backed Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran after his administration withdrew Washington from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and reinstated sanctions and added new ones.
Iranian officials must listen to the U.S. “if they want their people to eat,” Pompeo said at the time.