Trump Demands Iran Compensation, Says U.S. Controls Strait of Hormuz

Compensation and negotiations

Donald Trump said he will demand compensation from Iran for the war, writing on Truth Social that it was “an interesting idea because now I also demand compensation from Iran for all the people they have killed and seriously wounded with their bombs on roads and in the numerous conflicts for which they are famous,” and he said he had instructed his representatives to include the demand in future negotiations.

The statements came after Iran released a list of conditions that, according to Tehran, the United States must meet before maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz can be reopened, including the lifting of the naval blockade, the end of U.S. sanctions, the release of frozen Iranian assets and compensation for damages caused by the war initiated by the United States and Israel on February 28 of last year.

Trump also insisted during a press briefing in the Oval Office at the White House that “the only one who controls the Strait of Hormuz at this moment is the United States Navy,” while saying the U.S. Armed Forces have fully cleared the passage.

The dispute over compensation and control of Hormuz sits alongside Iran’s demand for U.S. action on sanctions and frozen assets, and Trump’s claim that the compensation issue has not been part of negotiations held over the past months to end the conflict.

Reporting for this section20Minutos

Threats to neighbors and oil

Mohsen Rezaei, named this month as part of senior appointments seen as hardening Tehran’s political and military stance, threatened Tehran’s neighbors against joining new U.S. efforts to squeeze Iran’s economy, saying in an interview with the state broadcaster that aired Saturday, “If (Trump) wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner.” Rezaei said Iran would target oil-shipping routes out of the Persian Gulf—alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz—if neighbors joined what he described as the economic war against Iran, adding that those neighbors would be considered enemies and “we will target their interests.”

The same reporting said Egypt is trying to revive Iran-U.S. negotiations, and that the top diplomats for Egypt and Iran discussed efforts to bring Tehran and Washington back to the negotiating table, with Egypt’s foreign ministry saying Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty discussed “Iran’s view of ongoing developments, the course of negotiations and their challenges.” Separately, the reporting said Iraq and Iran said Tehran has helped some ships carrying Iraqi oil to transit the Strait of Hormuz, with Iraqi President Nizar Amidi saying, “There is facilitation for some ships carrying Iraqi oil in the Strait of Hormuz,” and Iran’s state-run IRNA saying a number of Iraqi oil tankers have been permitted to transit.

Reporting for this section95.5 WSB

Sanctions, blockade, and escalation

Ahead of new U.S. economic sanctions, the United States warned Iran it faces “the greatest financial offensive ever marshalled,” as Washington prepared to enforce sweeping secondary sanctions on Monday targeting nations and foreign entities trading with Tehran, while Iran vowed to shut down all oil exports from the Gulf “if the economic war continues.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was set to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Monday, and the reporting said the U.S. and Iran had not conducted military strikes against each other for weeks but also had not engaged in meaningful talks to end the six-month-old conflict.

The same reporting said Iran’s Mohsen Rezaei warned that “not a single drop of oil will be exported, neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Persian Gulf,” and that Iran would regard any country’s participation in or support for America’s economic war against the Iranian people as an act of war.

In parallel, Aajil reported U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying, “America is capable of continuing the blockade of Iran’s ports as long as required,” while Ibrahim al-Zoghari, spokesperson for Iran’s Central Command, denied U.S. claims of routine passage through the Strait of Hormuz, calling them “nothing but lies.”

Reporting for this sectionA NewsAajil