DUBAI: US President Donald Trump on Monday demanded that Iran pay compensation for people he said it had killed in wars, attacks and protests, sharply raising the rhetorical stakes with Tehran just as hopes faded for an early deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump framed the demand as a response to Iran’s earlier insistence that Washington meet conditions of its own, including compensating Tehran for damage caused in the more than five months since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iranian territory.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was likewise demanding compensation from Iran for those it had killed and gravely wounded</cite> with roadside bombs and in various conflicts. The demand had not featured in any previous talks. He said it would now be attached to all future negotiations with Iran, and would include payments to the families of protesters. He also suggested Iran should compensate families of those killed aboard the USS Cole — a reference to the October 2000 attack in Yemen that killed 17 US sailors and has been attributed to Al Qaeda, not Iran.

Iran had earlier said it was close to finalising a pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes through the Strait, while repeating that Washington must first meet its conditions, including compensation and an end to sanctions and military threats.

The Strait, which carried about a fifth of global oil and LNG before the conflict, has been effectively blocked since the US-Israeli attacks of 28 February, driving up oil prices and global inflation. Brent crude extended gains to trade up 4.25 per cent, while Dutch and British front-month gas prices rose more than 10 per cent.

Trump is under domestic pressure to end a deeply unpopular war ahead of November’s midterm elections. A June ceasefire broke down after Washington reimposed a blockade on Iranian shipping in the Gulf in July, which Tehran said violated the truce.

Iranian strikes on Hormuz shipping have been accompanied by intensified Houthi attacks near the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Yemen’s military said seven people were killed in a Houthi attack on the Red Sea port city of Mocha on Monday, adding that air defences shot down 11 drones.

Source: Reuters via Dawn