'Shamefully stupid': Critics blast U.S. move to lift Iran oil sanctions
By: MSNOWNews (MS NOW)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
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
U.S. to allow Iran to get ~14 billion dollars (!!!) in oil revenue.
This is a huge financial concession to Iran by the U.S.
It is the first time U.S. is buying Iranian oil since 1996.
It's all happening in the middle of a war against...Iran
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." -@SenatorShaheenhttps://t.co/tiiHbD9NaF
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The Trumpists incessantly harped on the fact that under the Obama deal with Iran, the Iranians received $1.7billion of their own money.
Now, Trump is giving Iran $14 billion.
Who's "insane"?
The Trumpists' defense of this should be interesting, to say the least.
Trump can't decide if he wants to fight Iran or help it. Either way, it's costing the rest of us plenty.
iran needs the cash to buy russian weapons to sustain the war, and eased sanctions on russian oil will be used by putin to fight ukraine, while trump does putin's bidding in trying to destroy our NATO partnership by insulting our allies ...
just how many excursions are republicans responsible for now, in total, by getting america involved in another over oil?
(Canada's Global News)
Since it is oil already in transit, it has most likely already been paid for, so release of it gives no benefit to Iran, but benefit to the rest of the world. As well, Iran's access to financial systems being restricted should make sure of no benefit to Iran as well. Therefore I see NOTHING WRONG with releasing the tankers that were already on their way.
.
Maybe it's time to get that Venezuelan oil out there.
Venezuelan crude is muddy and the viscosity of butter which is why no one particularly cares for it now or in the last 10 years.
It was good enough to give Cuba the power it needed,
What the fuck is wrong with everyone - releasing the oil that is already in tankers bound for specific destinations and most likely already paid for is NOT a boon to IRAN, it is a boon to the destinations where the tankers were headed.
And the manifest is directly or indirectly paying Iran.
some maritime legal mumbo Jumbo, blame the British,
I don't know anything about a manifest, Does that mean that the tankers have to be stopped to prevent a delayed payment?
AGAIN. What do you mean? Has payment been made into escrow to be released to Iran when the oil has been delivered? Then I can understand why the oil should not be delivered, but otherwise, why not?
Yeah, that’ll teach ‘em. They’ll be sorry! /s
Like no one has ever seen before!
Ever, in the history of the world. hugely.
Trump has demonstrated incompetence his entire life; his only skill being the art of the con. Who could be so naive (or whatever) to think that this buffoon is fit to be PotUS? Importantly, when will those who continue to try to defend this abysmal human being finally catch on that their imagined superhero persona does not actually exist?
This psychopath is a disaster.
We have effectively given control of the military to an idiot with the impulse control of a toddler and no ability to think in the long term.
Congress and the Cabinet are complicit. They could rein him in, but are cowards.
What is tragic is that you are not exaggerating. Trump operates on emotion — mostly vindictiveness and ego. He reacts and uses pathological lying to (in his mind) make reality fit his desires.
As noted, he is a disaster.
By intention.
He seems incapable of regulating his emotions or his mind. And IMO, it is getting worse.
He has little to lose compared to the super majority of people whose lives he affects.
Agreed. He personally won't be doing any fighting in the ME, nor will his children. His lifestyle will not be noticeably affected by inflation or high gas costs.
On top of that, he is a malignant narcissist approaching 80 years old. He does not care about the consequences of his actions. He will not be affected during the remainder of his life. His stance on renewable energy shows a short-term political interest at the expense of those who will have to live with conditions after his death. His fanning the flames of a cultural war will not manifest until after he is gone. Given he has no shred of concern for anyone other than himself, he does not give one shit.
I have to wonder if he's even accepted the fact of his own mortality. Or maybe all of this is him raging at it.
No need to think too deeply about Trump. He is ultimately a very simple guy who relies far too heavily on his amygdala.
with the intensified desire to put his name and/or image on virtually everything possible by trump and his cult, he's probably had to face some concept of the inevitable. I just don't think he's faced the reality of how soon that could be. it seems like the maga version of holding the wake before you die, so that you can listen to nothing but glowing eulogies and still have time to maybe make a few personnel adjustments on the way out.
Best Facebook comment of the day:
A frightening basis for strategy indeed!
If he's going to lift the sanctions is he going to stop bombing, too?
trump's iran war will continue until the epstein scandal goes away ...