President Donald Trump on Monday demanded that Iran pay reparations for people killed and wounded in past attacks and conflicts, after Tehran called on the U.S. to compensate it for damage from the five-month military conflict.
“I see that Representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran are asking for compensation for the damage done to them during the last five month Military Conflict (started because, THEY WILL NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON), even though it was never mentioned in any of our negotiations or meetings!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump called Iran’s demand an “interesting idea,” saying he would now start “demanding compensation from Iran, for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts.”
The president said that would include compensation for those killed in the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole, among others.
Trump also called for compensation for the families of protesters killed in Iran “over the last 50 years, not to mention the 52,000 that have been killed in the last five months.”
He said the compensation demand will be added to negotiations with Tehran going forward.
The comments come after Iran issued a list of demands of its own.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said over the weekend that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. “corrects its behavior,” CBS News reported.
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of the council, said the U.S. must never threaten Iran again, permanently end the war, lift the naval blockade and withdraw its military, according to the reported statement.
Iran also demanded that the U.S. “completely compensate” the country for damage from the five-month war, lift sanctions and “unconditionally” release frozen assets.
Trump said Sunday that the U.S. is “only semi-negotiating” with Iran.
“We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” Trump told Axios in a phone interview.
Trump also maintained that Iran “is in very bad shape.”
Iran and Oman negotiated an agreement last week over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, though little has come from the deal so far.
