While the administration has “struggled to articulate the logic” of lifting the sanctions on Iran, some in right-wing media have been critical of the move.

• Washington Examiner’s Tom Rogan argued that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would perceive Trump’s move to lift sanctions as “clear indication” that he is “losing his nerve."
• National Review’s Andrew McCarthy pointed out that lifting sanctions on Iran would “underwrite the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ continuing combat operations against the United States, Israel, and U.S.-friendly Gulf states.” McCarthy emphasized that he supports the war but concluded, “The regime can only be dismantled by maximum pressure against its ability to generate revenue. Letting Iran reap oil revenue is not maximum pressure but its opposite."

Meanwhile, hosts on Fox News and Fox Business have had mixed reactions to the move.   

• On The Ingraham Angle, Fox contributor Byron York characterized the decision to lift Iranian sanctions as “a pretty extraordinary move,” while noting that it’s part of the Trump administration’s efforts to bring down gas prices. York concluded, “They want to say that it's a temporary blip that's going to go down soon, so they are pretty concerned about what's going on right now.” 
• Reacting to news from The Washington Post that the administration “might lift restrictions on some 140 million barrels of Iranian oil that have already been loaded onto vessels,” Fox anchor Shannon Bream expressed concern on Special Report with Bret Baier about the potential benefits to Iran and Russia. “They got to get the prices down,” Bream said, “but a lot of people look around and say, like, why would you want to benefit Russia? Where does that money go in their fight against Ukraine? And we certainly don't want to be benefitting Iran right now.” 
• On Fox & Friends First, Fox Business host Taylor Riggs appeared to dismiss the idea of lifting the sanctions as a way to lower gas prices: “You need to open up the strait. That's the only way to bring prices down. We’ve seen them try to boost supply, unsanction oil, release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — nothing’s working until you open up the strait.”

Others on Fox attempted to put a positive spin on the unsanctioned oil.

• The Big Weekend Show co-host Tomi Lahren, for example, seemed unsure of whether the move would result in lower gas prices, but argued that that’s what she loves about Trump. “He sees an issue and he tries to immediately solve it,” Lahren concluded. “Will it work enough to ease a lot of the pain on Americans? I don’t know, but he’s doing something, and I appreciate that."
• Jesse Watters Primetime guest host Charlie Hurt heralded the move for its supposed negative effect on China: “And China's going to have more problems on its hands. We're going to take away their lifeline: cheap, sanctioned Iranian oil.” 
• Fox Business host Jackie DeAngelis embraced Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s rationale that the move means “using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days.” DeAnglis responded: “I am interested in that and less about what he was talking about tapping the SPR. Because that, to me, is using their own ammunition against them."

But as The New York Times reported, “It is not clear that easing Iran oil sanctions will lower prices or how expanding the pool of potential buyers of its oil will prevent Iran from profiting from the volatility caused by the war."

The Times further highlighted the irony of the Trump administration potentially offering Iran billions in oil revenue, writing:

That so-called “scandal” was over money the United States government agreed to repay, which included “$400 million plus approximately $1.3 billion in accumulated interest to the Iranian government to resolve a disputed arms sale between the two nations that occurred ‘prior to the break in diplomatic ties’ during the 1979 Iranian revolution.” At the time, right-wing media and Fox News attacked former President Barack Obama for the payments, characterizing them as “money laundering" and “ransom" for Americans held by Iran.

The reported value to Iran of the U.S. lifting sanctions on oil is many times that number — as much as $14 billion.

The Trump administration’s move to lift sanctions on Iranian oil follows decisions to ease restrictions on both Russian and Venezuelan oil as well — actions that have also highlighted Fox’s hypocrisy and hold-your-nose approach to defending Trump.

• On lifting sanctions on Russia, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade lamented, “It’s unbelievable that we have to do this. … They estimate 100 million barrels of Russian oil is at stake. That's what’s out there. Unfortunately, they’re going to make some money on this in the short-term."
• Fox anchor Sandra Smith rationalized that “one could assume … that if these measures had not been taken by the administration to calm markets, it could be a lot higher than it is right now."
• Fox anchor Martha MacCullum more bluntly pointed out, “That’s got to be heartbreaking for Ukraine as they look at their situation in this war and they see their enemy being emboldened by a rising price of oil because of this."

In the end, lifting those sanctions reportedly did little to bring down gas prices — while giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a windfall estimated at more than $10 billion.