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Trump seeks 50-year reparations
U.S. President Donald Trump demanded that Iran pay compensation for what he called “the damage they’ve done” over a “50-year period,” saying his administration would seek payment for “50 years” of damages caused by Iran as talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz continue.
“Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that his administration was going to seek payment for “50 years” of damages caused by Iran”
Trump told reporters at the White House that “They asked for reparations, you might say,” and he said “we’re going to ask for money for the damage they’ve done over a 50-year period.”
The dispute follows Iran’s insistence that the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen unless Washington agrees to pay war reparations and end sanctions, with Iran also saying talks with Oman over shipping lanes are ongoing.
The standoff is tied to the Strait of Hormuz being “effectively blocked since the war began,” with the disruption pushing up oil prices and inflation, while U.S. Central Command said it has redirected 55 commercial vessels since reinstating the blockade in July and “disabled” at least two.
Iran rejects U.S. terms
Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz include lifting the U.S. naval blockade and sanctions, withdrawing American forces from the region, paying war reparations, and releasing frozen Iranian assets, according to Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said talks with Oman were “progressing smoothly and constructively,” with an agreement reached on a shipping-route map while “technical issues remained unresolved,” and he said Washington’s “hostile actions” have made the passageway unsafe.
Baghaei also said Tehran considers Washington’s naval blockade of Iranian ports an “act of aggression,” while the U.S. side said it has redirected 55 commercial vessels since reinstating the blockade in July and “disabled” at least two.
Charles Kupchan, a former special assistant to ex-US President Barack Obama, described Trump’s compensation remarks as “banter,” telling Al Jazeera that “neither the Iranians nor the Trump administration is being serious.”
Pressure spreads beyond Hormuz
Trump’s compensation demands extend beyond the Strait of Hormuz, with him writing that Iran should be “responsible for the damages and death caused to the people of Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Gaza,” and saying he was “likewise demanding compensation from Iran.”
““Additionally, compensation should be paid to the families of the hundreds of thousands of innocent protesters that Iran has killed over the last 50 years”
He also said compensation could cover deaths among U.S. personnel killed or wounded in the region and civilian protesters killed in a crackdown on mass unrest by the Iranian regime, while the U.S. side cited figures including “52,000” protesters killed as of six weeks earlier.
The Guardian reported that Trump’s demand for war reparations followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of a Trump-backed Board of Peace “15-point plan” to end Israel’s war in Gaza, and Netanyahu said Hamas must fully disarm before Israel would consider pulling out of Gaza.
With the Hormuz dispute unresolved, the sources describe oil-price pressure and market concerns, including Brent crude oil futures adding 2.5% to trade at $89.89 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures last seen 2.9% higher at $84.49.