WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump rejected Iran's demand for war reparations on Monday and turned it around, saying Tehran should be the party paying compensation.
Iran said over the weekend that any deal reopening the Strait of Hormuz would require the United States to lift sanctions, end its naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdraw forces from the region and compensate Iran for war damage, NPR reported.
Trump told reporters that if damages are to be paid, Iran should pay them, according to Reuters. He said Iran should compensate the families of the 17 American sailors killed in the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, an attack that has been attributed to al Qaeda rather than to Iran.
The president also disputed Tehran's leverage over the waterway itself, saying the United States is the only party that controls the strait and describing the naval blockade as a steel wall, CBS News reported.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the two governments are not engaged in direct talks and will not resume them while Washington continues to breach the interim agreement signed in June, according to CNN. Iranian officials say a separate pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes is close.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, is pressing American manufacturers to sharply increase missile production, a sign that planners expect a prolonged standoff.