Any sanctions align with feudal regimes. How would countries punish such regimes without sanctions? Military operations? That's even worse. Personally I don't see a clear answer to such hard question.
All it did was convert the secular military dictatorship into an extremist religious dictatorship and the effects of this punishment are still being felt today around the entire world[1].
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM0uvgHKZe8
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_campaign#Consequences