Trump rejects Iran reparations demand, says Tehran should compensate US instead

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said the US must pay reparations to secure the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s demand that the United States pay compensation for damage from U.S. bombing, saying instead that Tehran should compensate Americans killed or wounded in attacks he attributed to Iran.

Trump responded after Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Monday that the Strait of Hormuz would remain blocked until the U.S. halted hostile actions, lifted sanctions and paid full compensation for war damages.

“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 (started because, THEY WILL NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON),” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump said reparations had not been raised during negotiations but described the demand as an “interesting idea.”

“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, for which they are famous, as led initially by General Soleimani, including the families of those killed on the USS Cole, and thousands of others killed in combat.”

Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani commanded Iran’s elite Quds Force and directed regional proxy networks. He was killed Jan. 3, 2020, in a U.S. drone strike ordered by Trump near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.

The USS Cole was attacked Oct. 12, 2000, while refueling in Aden, Yemen. Al-Qaeda carried out the suicide bombing using a small boat loaded with more than 1,000 pounds of explosives, killing 17 U.S. sailors and injuring 37 others.

Iran had raised the issue of compensation before Zolghadr’s announcement. On May 19, 2026, Tehran included war reparations in a broader peace proposal presented to the U.S. following months of regional conflict.

On May 27, 2026, Iranian state media and official channels reported that Tehran had set a specific demand for Washington to provide $300 billion for reconstruction and war damages.