A group of 25 Senate Democrats criticized President Donald Trump on Friday for lifting sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil exports, sanctions which have seen broad bipartisan support.

“We write with deep concern and confusion over your administration’s recent decision to ease sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil exports,” the Democrats wrote in a letter to the president. “These actions speak once again to the troubling lack of strategic foresight that has marked your administration’s decision-making prior to and during its war of choice with Iran, jeopardizing the lives of our servicemembers across the region and raising costs for Americans here at home.”

The lawmakers accused Trump of “scrambling — and failing” to address the impacts of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict, despite reported warnings that an attack on Iran would likely cause oil prices to spike. 

And, they alleged, the sanctions waiver will provide a new revenue source of as much as $14 billion for “the very regime that U.S. servicemembers are risking their lives to strike” while having little impact on bringing down global oil prices.

They highlighted that Russia is already reportedly set to make $4.9 billion from rising oil prices, an amount further supplemented by the sanctions waivers, in spite of Russia’s support for Iran’s strikes on U.S. military forces.

“Relieving sanctions on U.S. adversaries during an active conflict is just the most recent indicator of an incoherent and disordered policy approach,” the letter continues. “Economic relief for Americans starts with the cessation of wars of choice, not the continuation of them.”

The lawmakers demanded public hearings by administration officials on the decision to provide sanctions relief.

The letter was signed by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Jack Reed (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Angus King (I-ME), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Ron Wyden (D-OR), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI).

Republicans, despite widespread support for the U.S. sanctions on Iran, have generally been downplaying the impacts of the sanctions relief, describing it as a careful measure to relieve oil price shocks that is designed to be temporary. Some have also echoed claims by the administration that they plan to intercept and freeze the revenues for Iran before they reach the regime’s coffers.

The Treasury Department implemented new sanctions on Thursday targeting what the agency described as a “network of front companies and shipping facilitators that bankroll the Iranian armed forces by selling crude oil” — a critical revenue stream for the regime.

The latest round of sanctions, one of several announced in recent months, also targets six vessels in Iran’s “shadow fleet” of tankers used to transport oil to international markets, joining a list of more than 170 such vessels which have been sanctioned this year.

The Treasury is also adding sanctions on a subsidiary of Mahan Air, an Iranian airline used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to help supply proxies and allies across the region.

“Today’s action continues Treasury’s campaign to cut off funding for the Iranian regime’s development of nuclear weapons and support of terrorist proxies,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “Disrupting the Iranian regime’s revenue is critical to helping curb its nuclear ambitions.”

In its announcement, the Treasury Department said that Iran’s oil exports are a crucial source of funding for the Iranian regime, particularly as the Islamic Republic seeks to rebuild after its war with Israel.

“Following its defeat in the 12-Day War with Israel, Iran’s military has increasingly come to rely on the sale of Iranian crude oil to supplement its annual budget and finance the rebuilding of its depleted forces,” the statement reads.

The companies targeted under the sanctions are tied to Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company, an arm of the Iranian military responsible for oil sales and exports. The companies being targeted operated variously out of the UAE, Panama, Greece, India and Liberia.

The ships in question are flagged in Palau, Panama and Gambia.

According to the Treasury’s announcement, Mahan subsidiary Yazd International Airways Company was used by the IRGC to transport Quds Force officers to Lebanon to support Hezbollah attacks on Israel and to ship weapons to the Assad regime in Syria. 

The sanctions also seek to crack down on Mahan’s procurement of Western aircraft and identify several such aircraft as blocked property.

Bessent also attended a meeting at the White House on Thursday with recently freed hostages.

“We heard their firsthand accounts of the atrocities experienced on that day and over the past two years,” Bessent said on X. “Thanks to President Trump’s historic actions and bold leadership, all of the hostages have been freed, and we are closer than ever to a lasting peace in the Middle East. At @USTreasury, we are committed to safeguarding Americans and our allies from terror, wherever it presents.”