Trump demands compensation from Iran as talks on Strait of Hormuz continue

Published 11 August 2026 · us

US president seeks payment for ’50 years’ of alleged damages after Iran conditions reopening of Hormuz on war reparations. United States President Donald Trump has

US president seeks payment for ’50 years’ of alleged damages after Iran conditions reopening of Hormuz on war reparations. United States President Donald Trump has demanded compensation from Iran for those he claimed were killed by the country after Tehran conditioned the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on receiving war reparations from Washington. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that his administration was going to seek payment for “50 years” of damages caused by Iran, framing the move as a direct response to Tehran’s claims. Tehran has said it will not open the Strait of Hormuz – through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the US-Israel war on Iran – unless Washington agrees to pay war reparations and end sanctions. The Iranian demands were largely in line with the terms of an interim peace agreement signed in June, which has since broken down over a dispute on control over the strait. Talks between Iran and Oman over the waterway, which separates the two countries, are ongoing, but Trump’s new demands risk complicating efforts to reopen the maritime passage. “They asked for reparations, you might say. Or they asked for money for the damage that we’ve done. I said that’s a good idea,” he told reporters.

“Well, we’re going to ask for money for the damage they’ve done over a 50-year period.” The payments would cover deaths among US forces in the region as well as civilian protesters in Iran, he said, claiming that 52,000 people have been killed in Iran in the past four months. Tehran says some 3,117 people died in antigovernment protests that swept the country in January, prior to the launch of the US-Israel war. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) in February reported about 7,000 deaths, including 6,500 protesters. ‘Banter’ Trump also said Tehran should compensate families of the 17 US sailors killed in an October 2000 attack in Yemen on the USS Cole naval vessel, which has been blamed on al-Qaeda, not Iran. “Also, with respect to the Iran negotiations, Iran should be responsible for the damages and death caused to the people of Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Gaza!” he wrote in a Truth Social post. Since the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28, Trump has repeatedly oscillated between threats of escalation and claims that a peace deal is imminent. He threatened last week to “hit” Iran “very hard”, only to pull back, hinting a peace deal was near. This weekend, he said he was “low-keying” his approach to the conflict, suggesting that he was prepared to let economic pressure mount in place of further military strikes.