Critics say the Trump administration’s decision to halt sanctions on Iranian oil — in a bid to curb soaring energy prices caused by the intensifying war — benefits the very regime the United States is fighting.
“It’s very clear that the Trump administration is trying to alleviate some of these global energy and oil market pressures, but at the same time, what they’re doing is allowing Iran to be able to benefit from that relaxation of sanctions,” former CIA Director John Brennan said on MS NOW’s “The Weekend” on Saturday. “It shows the inconsistencies in these policies.”
Brennan, MS NOW’s senior national security and intelligence analyst, predicted the conflict will last “a long, long time, and it’s going to be very, very dangerous for U.S. national security interests.”
Philip Gordon, a former national security official in the Biden, Obama and Clinton administrations, accused Trump of hypocrisy for “giving Iran up to ten times” the amount of money that former President Barack Obama sent to the country in 2016.
When Obama sent Iran $400m + $1.3bn in interest in 2016 Trump called it “insane” and he and others spent a decade mocking the idea of “pallets of cash” even though it was Iran’s own money, American prisoners were released, courts were likely to require the U.S. payment, and Iran… https://t.co/RhP8nZRT9D
— Phil Gordon (@PhilGordonDC) March 21, 2026
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the pause in sanctions in a post on X Friday, saying it would add roughly 140 million barrels of oil to global markets. He said Iran “will have difficulty accessing any revenue generated” from those sales, and that the U.S. will essentially “be using the Iranian barrels against Tehran to keep the price down.”
But critics, including those in Congress, which did not authorize President Donald Trump’s decision to wage war on Iran jointly with Israel, say easing sanctions on the Islamic Republic helps Tehran no matter how the administration tries to sell it.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, accused the administration of “giving the regime a financial lifeline.”
“To say the President has no plan is an understatement,” she said in a statement on X.
“The Trump Administration is lifting sanctions on Iranian oil, giving the regime a financial lifeline while Americans continue to feel the impact of @POTUS’s war.
To say the President has no plan is an understatement.” –@SenatorShaheen https://t.co/tiiHbD9NaF
— Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SFRCdems) March 20, 2026
In an attempt to stem the economic fallout from the war, as Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz destabilizes global energy markets, the Trump administration also lifted sanctions on Russian oil last week, angering European allies who want to continue exerting economic pressure on Moscow.
“Sickeningly, shamefully stupid—lifting sanctions on oil sales by Russia & Iran, fueling their war machines with windfall cash,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a social media post on Friday. “A minimal benefit to oil prices, but huge boost to sworn enemies.”
Tommy Vietor, a former National Security Council spokesman in the Obama administration, said, “This is the biggest, dumbest concession ever given to Iran by the US and all you need to know about what a disaster Trump’s policy is.”
Neither Trump nor members of his administration have given a definitive timeline for U.S. involvement in the war. Trump told MS NOW’s Stephanie Ruhle on Friday that it would take Iran 10 years to rebuild if the U.S. ended the war now, but suggested that was not acceptable to him.
“If we stay longer, they’ll never rebuild,” he said.
Still, the president indicated later in the day that he is thinking of an exit soon. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he is considering “winding down” the military operation against Iran and claimed that the U.S. is “getting very close to meeting our objectives” — despite having said repeatedly that the U.S. has “won” the war.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.