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Trump seeks Iran compensation
President Donald Trump demanded that Iran pay compensation as talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz continue, responding to Tehran’s conditions for a peace deal with his own demands for payment for people killed in wars, attacks and protests.
“seek payment for “50 years” of damages caused by Iran”
Trump told reporters at the White House that his administration was going to seek payment for “50 years” of damages caused by Iran, framing the move as a direct response to Tehran’s claims.
In an Oval Office exchange, Trump said, “If there’s damages to be paid, I think Iran should pay those damages,” while also repeating his claim that “The only one that has control of the Strait of Hormuz right now is the United States Navy.”
The CNBC report also said U.S. forces early Tuesday morning fired on a Panama-flagged vessel that tried to bypass the blockade, and it noted that traffic through the strait remained at a relative trickle despite the blockade and sanctions.
Negotiations harden, signals
A senior Pakistani minister said Washington and Tehran were close to “some sort of arrangement” over the Strait of Hormuz, with Pakistan’s defense minister Khawaja Asif telling reporters that “things are shaping up again in favor of a peace arrangement or a deal.”
Asked to respond to Asif’s remarks, the White House referred CNBC to Trump’s Oval Office response when reporters pressed him on what action the U.S. would take against Iran next, where Trump replied, “You'll find out.”
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said Saturday the strait won’t reopen until Washington lifts its naval blockade and sanctions, withdraws American forces from the region, pays war reparations, and releases frozen Iranian assets.
On the Iranian side of the economic dispute, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei pushed back on U.S. claims about sanctions, saying Washington opts for sanctions whenever diplomacy fails and escalates them when they don't work—describing it as a pattern that has become less a “policy” than a “compulsive addiction.”
Oil, ports, and wider risk
The standoff over compensation and reopening the Strait of Hormuz has fed into market concerns, with CBS News saying oil prices extended a strong rally as hopes for a reopening faded and “pressure on oil prices has been upward.”
“pressure on oil prices has been upward”
CBS News also quoted Trump saying, “We control the strait 100%,” while adding that Iran “can make trouble,” and it described the U.S. Navy’s blockade as a “steel wall” and “infallible.”
Al Jazeera reported that Trump said the payments would cover deaths among U.S. forces in the region as well as civilian protesters in Iran, while also claiming that 52,000 people have been killed in Iran in the past four months.
In the background of the negotiations, Al Jazeera said Iran has insisted the strait would remain closed until Washington agrees to its demands, including lifting the naval blockade, and it described talks between Iran and Oman over opening a shipping channel through the Strait of Hormuz as ongoing but at a “critical juncture.”