U.S. President Donald Trump addressed Iranian demands for compensation on Monday evening, dismissing claims that the issue had been raised in negotiations while announcing he would now seek reparations from Tehran for decades of terrorism and internal repression.
In a statement, Trump said he had seen Iranian officials requesting compensation for damage sustained during the past five months of military confrontation, a conflict that began, he noted, to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. "This was never mentioned in any of our negotiations or meetings!" the president wrote.
Trump announced he would turn the tables on the Islamic Republic by demanding payment for American casualties from Iranian-backed attacks over the years. "But this is an interesting idea because I am now similarly demanding reparations from Iran, for all the people they have killed and badly wounded through their roadside bombs and the many conflicts in which they are known, as initially led by General Soleimani," he stated, referencing the late Iranian military commander killed in a 2020 U.S. strike.
The president specifically mentioned families of those killed in the attack on the USS Cole, along with "thousands of others killed in battle." He also highlighted the heavy toll Iran's regime has exacted on its own population, stating that compensation should be paid "to the families of hundreds of thousands of innocent protesters that Iran has killed over the last 50 years, not to mention 52,000 killed in the last 5 months."
Trump concluded by saying he had instructed American negotiators to incorporate these demands into all future diplomatic contacts. "I have directed my representatives to strongly insert this into any and all future negotiations. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" he wrote.
According to recent reports, Iran has begun conditioning the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global oil shipments, on receiving compensation from the United States. This represents a shift in Tehran's negotiating position, as Iranian officials had previously indicated that reparations would be discussed later in the process, alongside nuclear talks, rather than as a precondition for opening the strategic waterway.
