Over a period of years or more, the United States has been calling for worldwide economic sanctions against the country of Iran. Economic sanctions are designed to hurt a foreign government on an economic basis, so much so, as to make daily life much difficult for those who run the government or are in charge of it. Often times, it is the average citizens in these foreign lands that become gravely affected and hurt while the rulers continue to remain undisturbed by it all.
Two good examples of this would be the embargo against the island of Cuba, as well as the 1980 grain embargo against the Soviet Union. The Cuban embargo has been in place for over forty years. The people of Cuba have been most affected by it, while the Castro regime has not been. The Communist regime has and continues to maintain power on that island and tries to work around the embargo at every opportunity. The 1980 U.S. grain embargo against the Soviet Union, to protest the invasion of Afghanistan, did the same thing. Soviet leaders were not affected whereas the people were. The United States also paid a price when then-President Jimmy Carter, along with the embargo, stated that the U.S. would not participate in the Olympics, which at the time were being held in Moscow that year.
Economic sanctions has often failed at targeting despotic rulers of government, for these rulers have often found ways around it all and have always managed to survive. If the United States by its call for sanctions believes that this will help the people of Iran, they are sadly mistaken. It will hurt them greatly. It will be the people that the United States purports to help that will be getting the brunt of the sanctions while, its rulers, the Mullahs, will be literally unscathed.