Just refer to John Bolton, you can find many instances. He gave a talk for MEK which was in the US terrorist group list.
It's true that Bolton argued war is best option several years before joining this administration, but that's not your claim. Your claim is that he (or some other official) said the purpose of the sanctions is to make the common people suffer, and I can't any statement to that effect.
I understand the importance of being exact, but by being pedantic in a political context without considering motivations and effects is trivialization.