U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he had instructed his representatives to demand compensation from Iran in any future negotiations, responding to Tehran’s calls for payment over damage caused during 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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that the demand had “never been mentioned in any of our negotiations or meetings.”
“But 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,” he wrote.
Trump said the demand should cover Americans killed or wounded in attacks he attributed to Iran, including roadside bombings and other conflicts associated with former Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
He also cited “the families of those killed on the USS Cole, and thousands of others killed in combat.”
Trump further said compensation should be paid to the families of protesters killed by the Iranian regime over the past five decades, including what he described as 52,000 people killed during the past five months.
Trump: 'It is an interesting idea because now I am likewise demanding compensation from Iran'
(Photo: Anna Moneymaker AFP, AP)
“Additionally, compensation should be paid to the families of the hundreds of thousands of innocent protestors that Iran has killed over the last 50 years, not to mention the 52,000 that have been killed in the last five months,” Trump wrote.
“I have instructed my representatives to put this firmly into any, and all, future negotiations.”
Trump later expanded the demand, saying Iran should also be held responsible for the destruction and deaths caused across the region. “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 follow-up Truth Social post.
Trump also reiterated that the military conflict began over efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, writing that it was “started because, THEY WILL NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON.”
His comments came amid faltering contacts between Washington and Tehran and one day after Trump told Axios that his administration was “lowering the profile” on Iran.
“We’re negotiating with them very partially,” Trump said Sunday. “We’re just watching what’s happening in Iran, with the tremendous inflation there and the fact that they have no money.”
Trump also said Iran’s economic situation was “very bad” and claimed the regime lacked sufficient funds even to pay its soldiers. He said the U.S. naval blockade had further intensified Tehran’s economic difficulties.
“It’ll work out. It always works out,” Trump said of the confrontation with Iran. “It’s like a chess game.”
The Wall Street Journal also reported Sunday that Trump was showing patience toward the latest impasse in negotiations as Iran presented a series of new demands that have been viewed in Washington as unacceptable conditions for returning to talks.