US President Donald Trump on Monday addressed Iran’s stipulations for a peace agreement by presenting his own requirements, which include demands for Iran to provide compensation for individuals who lost their lives in conflicts, assaults, and demonstrations. This rhetorical escalation is expected to further complicate the efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s proposal, previously unaddressed, emerged as a reaction to Tehran’s requests for reparations and the cessation of sanctions. The Iranian demands were largely consistent with the terms of a preliminary peace deal signed in June, which has since deteriorated. Since the war began in February, Trump has consistently fluctuated between threats of escalation and assertions that a peace deal is on the horizon. “We’re going to ask for money for the damage they’ve done over a 50-year period,” Trump said at the White House, saying payments would cover deaths among both civilian demonstrators and US forces in the region. “So if there’s damages to be paid, I think Iran should pay those damages,” Trump said. Oil prices settled 5% higher on Monday after the demands dimmed prospects for a deal to reopen the strait.
Referring to Tehran’s crackdown on demonstrations in late 2025 and 2026, Trump stated that Iran had killed approximately 52,000 protesters as of six weeks ago. While certain Iranian opposition and exile groups have asserted that tens of thousands have been killed, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported in February approximately 7,000 deaths, which includes around 6,500 protesters. Trump urged demonstrators to topple the Iranian regime following the onset of hostilities marked by US and Israeli airstrikes in February. Rights organisations assert that the Iranian government has persisted in its repression of dissenters since that time. Trump also stated that Iran ought to provide compensation to the families of the 17 US sailors who lost their lives in the October 2000 attack in Yemen on the naval vessel USS Cole, an incident attributed to al Qaeda, rather than 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!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Iran previously indicated that it was approaching a definitive agreement with Oman regarding the establishment of new shipping lanes via the Strait of Hormuz. However, it reiterated that the United States must fulfilll certain conditions, which include compensation and the cessation of sanctions and military threats, prior to the reopening of this critical waterway. The strait, thru which approximately a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed prior to the conflict, has been effectively blocked since the onset of the war, resulting in increased oil prices and inflation. Ironically, the agreement with Oman would provide Tehran with greater leverage over the crucial waterway than it possessed prior to the onset of the war. Trump faces mounting pressure to conclude a war that has garnered significant unpopularity domestically as the midterm elections in November approach. High fuel prices remain a critical concern in rural regions that have historically supported him. “What you’re seeing here is the beginning of a capitulation,” Democratic US Representative Bill Keating said. “This is reality. It’s sinking in.” Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei stated that discussions with Oman were “progressing smoothly and constructively,” noting that an agreement had been reached on a shipping route map, although some technical issues remained unresolved.
Baghaei indicated that the discussions encompassed services typically associated with payment, including safe navigation, environmental protection, maritime services, and the fight against crime. US officials have consistently dismissed any arrangement that would permit Tehran to impose fees for access to the strait. Despite months of military efforts by the United States, including a two-week campaign of strikes in July, Iran’s control over the strait remains unchallenged. This stands in stark contrast to the misleading assertion made by Trump on Monday, who claimed that the strait was open and that “The only one that has control of the Strait of Hormuz right now is the United States Navy.” Washington and Tehran reached an agreement for a ceasefire in June; however, the United States reinstated a blockade on Iranian shipping in July, a decision that Tehran contended breached the terms of the truce. Iran has been responding with missile and drone strikes against Washington’s allies in the region, while also targeting commercial vessels transiting the strait without its authorisation.
