I strongly agree with your framing here. Lavrov is absolutely right to call out the sanctions regime for what it is - an instrument of coercion rather than a tool of law. What stands out in Iran’s case is how decades of external pressure have unintentionally produced the very opposite of what the West intended. Instead of collapse, Iran has cultivated a unique form of sovereignty built on resilience, self-reliance, and new alignments with non-Western powers.
One additional point worth noting is that sanctions are not just about weakening a state. They are also about signaling to other “difficult” countries what the costs of independence will be. Yet Iran, much like Russia today, has demonstrated that when a civilization is rooted deeply enough, it can withstand those costs and even emerge stronger. That is why, as I argued in my earlier piece “The Fortress States: Why the West Cannot Topple Russia and Iran”, both countries embody a model of resistance that goes beyond geopolitics. They show how sovereignty can be defended in an era of financial warfare and technological siege.
In this sense, Iran is not only a regional power but a living example of what a multipolar order actually looks like in practice. Its endurance under siege proves that the “grip on the throat” can be broken and that lesson will not be lost on others who seek to preserve their independence.
I strongly agree with your framing here. Lavrov is absolutely right to call out the sanctions regime for what it is - an instrument of coercion rather than a tool of law. What stands out in Iran’s case is how decades of external pressure have unintentionally produced the very opposite of what the West intended. Instead of collapse, Iran has cultivated a unique form of sovereignty built on resilience, self-reliance, and new alignments with non-Western powers.
One additional point worth noting is that sanctions are not just about weakening a state. They are also about signaling to other “difficult” countries what the costs of independence will be. Yet Iran, much like Russia today, has demonstrated that when a civilization is rooted deeply enough, it can withstand those costs and even emerge stronger. That is why, as I argued in my earlier piece “The Fortress States: Why the West Cannot Topple Russia and Iran”, both countries embody a model of resistance that goes beyond geopolitics. They show how sovereignty can be defended in an era of financial warfare and technological siege.
In this sense, Iran is not only a regional power but a living example of what a multipolar order actually looks like in practice. Its endurance under siege proves that the “grip on the throat” can be broken and that lesson will not be lost on others who seek to preserve their independence.
Link to the article I referenced in my earlier comment: https://open.substack.com/pub/chandragupta/p/the-fortress-states-why-the-west?r=2rza6e&utm_medium=ios