Donald Trump said he will demand that Iran pay compensation for the deaths of thousands of US soldiers and Iranian civilians killed over recent decades, adding a new obstacle to negotiations aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The US president said the demand followed claims by Iranian negotiators for compensation over the five-month war, which the supplied source says has killed thousands and severely damaged Iran’s military and economy.
What Trump is demanding
In posts on Truth Social, Trump said Iran should compensate families of people killed or seriously wounded by roadside bombs and in other conflicts. He specifically cited the families of those killed aboard the USS Cole and other US combat deaths.
Trump also called for compensation for what he described as hundreds of thousands of innocent protesters killed by Iran over the past 50 years, as well as 52,000 people killed in the last five months. In a later post, he expanded the demand to include deaths and damage affecting people in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Gaza.
Related coverage: Mohsen Rezaei takes Iran’s top security post amid Hormuz talks.
Why the demand matters for negotiations
The compensation demand is likely to be unacceptable to Iran’s leaders, according to the supplied source, as negotiators work toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Before joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, the waterway carried 20% of global oil trade.
Trump and other senior negotiators have repeatedly said a deal was close, but no agreement has materialised. The latest demand is therefore another sign that talks to end the war and reopen the waterway have reached an impasse.
A wider setback for Trump’s Middle East efforts
Trump is also seeking to end conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. His efforts faced another setback when Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the Trump-backed Board of Peace’s 15-point roadmap for ending the war in Gaza.
More context: Hormuz reopening remains out of reach as Iran issues demands.
Netanyahu said Hamas must fully disarm before Israel considers withdrawing from Gaza, rejecting the roadmap’s proposed phased withdrawal. Trump has not responded publicly to Netanyahu’s statement, but said in the Oval Office that his relationship with the Israeli leader was “very good.”
Political and economic pressure
The setbacks come as Trump seeks to end several Middle East conflicts before the US midterm elections in November. The supplied source says high oil prices and inflation are expected to create difficulties for Republicans at the polls.
Also read: Iran-Oman Talks Show Progress on Strait of Hormuz Shipping.
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