Trump Fires Back at Iran’s Strait of Hormuz Demands With New Compensation ‘Red Line’
President Donald Trump fired back at Iran on Monday after Tehran demanded compensation from the United States as a condition for fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, countering that Iran should instead be forced to compensate Americans and others harmed by the regime over decades.
Iranian officials have laid out a sweeping list of conditions for restoring normal traffic through the critical waterway. Those demands include lifting U.S. sanctions, ending the American naval blockade, withdrawing U.S. forces from around Iran, releasing frozen Iranian assets and paying Tehran for damage caused during the five-month military conflict.
Trump rejected the compensation demand, pointing out that Iran had not previously made reparations part of negotiations. He said the war was launched because Iran refused to abandon its pursuit of a nuclear weapon and argued that Tehran cannot now demand payment for the consequences of the conflict.
The president responded by producing a compensation list of his own. Trump said Iran should pay for Americans killed or seriously wounded by Iranian-linked roadside bombs and other attacks over the years, including violence he connected to the late Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
Trump also called for compensation for the families of American service members killed in conflicts involving Iranian-backed forces. He argued that thousands of Americans have suffered as a result of Tehran’s actions and said their losses should become part of any future negotiations if Iran insists on discussing reparations.
The president expanded his demand beyond Americans, saying Iran should compensate the families of protesters killed by the Iranian government over the past several decades. Trump accused the regime of killing hundreds of thousands of innocent demonstrators and pointed specifically to the enormous death toll from the past five months of conflict.
Trump said he has instructed his representatives to make those compensation demands a firm part of all future negotiations with Tehran. The move establishes a new negotiating position as the administration attempts to force Iran to reopen the Strait without accepting the sweeping concessions demanded by the Islamic Republic.
Iran has insisted that the Strait will not fully reopen until the United States changes its policies toward Tehran. Iranian officials have also pushed for permanent strategic control over the waterway and previously sought the ability to impose tolls on ships traveling through the passage.
The dispute comes as shipping through the Strait remains dramatically below normal levels. Iran and Oman have been discussing a temporary arrangement that could create a limited shipping corridor, while the Trump administration has maintained pressure through a naval blockade and the threat of renewed military action.
Trump has recently signaled that he is willing to give economic pressure more time to weaken Tehran rather than immediately launching another major round of strikes. But his latest declaration makes clear that he has no intention of accepting Iran’s demand for American compensation, instead turning the issue back on Tehran and making Iranian reparations a new red line in future negotiations.