Fox anchor calls out “the conservative Republican side” for flip-flopping on unfreezing Iranian funds

Martha MacCallum: “Back when there were funds unfrozen during the JCPOA, you know, one side of the political fence, the conservative Republican side, said, look, unfreezing funds is giving people money. And now we're hearing sort of a different story.”

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

From the June 17, 2026, edition of Fox News' America Reports

SANDRA SMITH (HOST): We just heard for about an hour and eight minutes from President Trump, and senior US officials are reading out the details of this memorandum. We're learning more. Is it enough to persuade those critics or those skeptics of what we have heard so far and those that are concerned that Iran gets too much in this deal?

MARTHA MACCALLUM (GUEST): You know, I think that that skepticism is well founded in many ways, but I think the president is looking at this in a very pragmatic term. And I think he made very clear in the comments that he just made, you know, is it perfect? No, it's not perfect. But he feels that the damage that's been done to Iran is devastating enough to set them back considerably in their nuclear ambitions and that he sees a path forward to eliminate the uranium that Hugh Hewitt was just talking about, and that at any step along the way, the possibility of returning to hostilities is present. And I think you're just going see both sides spinning this very positively, and I know that Vice President Vance has said that, both on the previous call and on today's call, that, you know, he expects that Iran will try to make this look like a good deal for them. 

I think one of the biggest questions that I have is whether or not — you know, back when there were funds unfrozen during the JCPOA, you know, one side of the political fence, the conservative Republican side, said, look, unfreezing funds is giving people money. And now we're hearing sort of a different story about unfreezing funds.

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So, you know, I think it is not a perfect situation. I think everybody feels that way.