United Nations ? The U.S. and its allies scored a long-sought victory Wednesday by pushing through new U.N. sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, punishments Tehran dismissed as “annoying flies, like a used tissue.”

The sanctions target Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, ballistic missiles and nuclear-related investments. Oil exports, the lifeblood of Iran’s economy, are not affected because targeting them would have cost the U.S. essential support from Russia and China.

President Barack Obama said the sanctions are the toughest Iran has ever faced. They required several months of difficult negotiations by the five veto-wielding permanent U.N. Security Council members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — and nonmember Germany. This is the fourth round of sanctions aimed at getting Iran into serious discussions on its nuclear ambitions.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on an official visit in Tajikistan, dismissed the new resolution.