TRUMP DEMANDS IRAN PAY COMPENSATION IN HORMUZ NEGOTIATIONS

US President Donald Trump on Monday demanded that Iran compensate victims of attacks he attributed to Tehran, introducing a new condition to negotiations over reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Trump's demand came after Iran stated over the weekend that it was nearing a deal with Oman to define new shipping lanes through the waterway, whilst repeating that the United States must meet conditions including compensation for damages from US and Israeli strikes, an end to sanctions, and an end to military threats. Trump wrote on social media: "It is an interesting idea because now I am likewise demanding compensation from Iran, for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts." He instructed his representatives to include this demand in all future negotiations.

Trump cited several incidents as grounds for compensation claims. He referenced the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, a US Navy guided-missile destroyer, at a Yemeni port. The FBI has attributed that attack to al-Qaeda; it killed 17 sailors and wounded more than three dozen others. Trump also called for compensation for families of people killed during anti-government protests in Iran in January, which he described as the country's worst domestic unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The competing compensation demands reflect the broader impasse over the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most strategically important waterways. More than five months of US and Israeli strikes on Iranian territory preceded Iran's weekend announcement of negotiations with Oman. No timeline has been given for resolving the conflicting conditions each side has set as prerequisites for fully reopening the waterway.