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Compensation and control
Donald Trump said he would demand compensation from Iran for “all the people they have killed and seriously wounded with their bombs,” and he also ordered that the demand be “firmly include[d]” in future negotiations.
“I have instructed my representatives to firmly include this in each and every one of the future negotiations”
Trump tied the compensation demand to past attacks he cited, including the 2000 attack on the U.S. destroyer USS Cole in which “17 U.S. service members were killed,” and he said the issue of compensation claimed by Iran had not been part of negotiations.
In parallel, Trump insisted the United States controls the Strait of Hormuz, saying “the only one who controls the Strait of Hormuz at this moment is the United States Navy,” while also claiming the U.S. Armed Forces have “fully cleared the passage.”
Iran’s response in the sources centers on conditions for reopening maritime traffic, including lifting a naval blockade, ending U.S. sanctions, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and compensation for damages from a war initiated by the United States and Israel on February 28 of last year.
Blockade and hostile messages
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the United States can continue the blockade of Iran’s ports “as long as required,” adding that “The U.S. Navy can maintain a blockade of this kind for an indefinite period” by rotating ships.
Iran’s Central Command spokesperson Ibrahim al-Zoghari denied U.S. claims about routine passage through the Strait of Hormuz, calling them “nothing but lies.”
Ahead of new U.S. economic sanctions, the United States and Iran exchanged defiant messages while oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz “have virtually halted,” and the AAPNews report said only four commodity ships sailed along the strait on Thursday.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the imminent U.S. sanctions announcement was an “assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations,” while U.S. President Donald Trump warned that any country providing “any type of lifeline to Iran” would face economic consequences.
Oman talks and threats
Iran announced an “understanding” with Oman to establish a maritime route through the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump reacted by threatening Oman in an interview with Fox News.
“If Oman meddles, we’ll [pound] them with ... bombs”
Trump said, “If Oman meddles, we’ll [pound] them with ... bombs,” and he also told Fox News that “If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s--- out of them,” linking the threats to U.S. objectives in the Strait of Hormuz.
In the same reporting, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said negotiations with Oman were continuing in earnest, and the sources describe a 60-day Memorandum of Understanding between Washington and Tehran that expired with little hope for renewal.
The dispute over control of the strait is framed as a stalemate in which both the United States and Iran claim to have control, while ship traffic has been choked by Iranian attacks on ships attempting to pass and by the U.S. naval blockade of Iran.