Trump Might Lift Sanctions On Iran—After Blasting Obama For Doing It

BreakingBusinessTrump Might Lift Sanctions On Iran—After Blasting Obama For Doing ItBySara Dorn,Forbes Staff. Sara Dorn is a Forbes news reporter who covers politics.Follow AuthorJun 12, 2026, 04:34pm EDTToplinePresident Donald Trump appears close to reaching a new agreement with Iran that reportedly has many similarities to the Obama-era deal he blasted—including sanctions relief for Iran. President Donald Trump speaks before signing a proclamation in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 11, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesKey FactsIt’s unclear exactly what the sanctions relief for Iran could entail—Reuters reported Friday that the deal would waive all sanctions on Iran’s oil and unfreeze billions of dollars in frozen assets. Vice President JD Vance described the sanctions relief as conditional on Friday, writing on X that “the Iranians are not receiving any cash, and no funds are being released for simply signing a deal or attending a meeting.”Vance said if Iran “meets its obligations, then economic benefits will flow to them and to the entire region.”Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also described any sanctions relief as performance-based, saying during a speech at the Reagan National Economic Forum in May that “anything that’s taken off will be taken off slowly” and be based on “milestones that the Iranian regime would have to meet.”In 2015, Trump assailed the Obama administration for lifting some sanctions on Iran in the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and restored them when he took office in 2018.Trump and Republicans criticized the Obama administration for paying $1.7 billion to Iran to settle a decades-old dispute over military equipment as part of the agreement, accusing the Obama administration in a 2018 tweet of “loading up airplanes with 1.8 Billion Dollars in CASH & sending it to Iran as part of the horrific Iran Nuclear Deal.” if (!window.cnx...