US-Iran War: Trump To Demand War Compensation From Iran | WION News

At our focus this hour, President Donald Trump has put forth another demand before Tehran, further dimming prospects of a quick agreement to end the West Asia war. Trump says that he would seek conflict compensation from Tehran as part of any peace negotiations going forward. He cited attacks and killings backed or perpetrated by Iran, even those that stretched back decades. His announcement is in direct response to Tehran's insistence that US payment of war reparations are a precondition to any resolution of the ongoing hostilities. They asked for reparations, you might say, or they asked for money for the damage that we've done. I said, that's a good idea. Well, we're going to ask for money for the damage they've done over a 50-year period. Whether you go SS Cole, or whether you go all of the people that were so badly hurt, so badly wounded or killed, many thousands of people, and maybe damages for the 52,000 protesters over the last four months that were killed in Iran. Trump this weekend said he was low-keying his approach to the war, suggesting that he was prepared to let economic pressure mount in place of further military strikes. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which is now central to talks aimed at ending the war, remains disrupted by Iranian forces as the US naval blockade tightens its grip on the Iranian ports. While Iran and Oman have said that they are close to reaching an agreement on the strategic waterway, Trump has claimed that the is only semi-negotiating at this point with Iran. Tehran on its part has conditioned the full reopening of the Hormuz, on the US ending its blockade of Iranian ports and lifting oil as well as economic sanctions. But Trump claims it is already open. It's open now. We're taking a lot of ----. It's open now. Look, the only one that has control of the Strait of Hormuz right now is the United States Navy. We have a blockade that's been infallible. It's a steel wall. And we let people in that we want to let in. And those people come in and they've been coming in and they're going out. So it's actually open now. We do not let them go into Iran. They're not admitted into the Strait to go to Iran. But it's open for others. Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant reportedly claimed that sanctions were suffocating Iran. In response, Iran accused the Trump administration of being what it called addicted to economic restrictions. Tehran appears undeterred by both sanctions and military strikes, or at least that is the image it seeks to project. President Pesachian has stressed that the calculations of United States and Israel, which he claims are based on artificial intelligence data and espionage networks, have been thwarted one after another. Speaking at a conference at the University of Tehran, Pesachian said Iran's stability and security owed much to the guidance, exceptional oversight and prudence of the country's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Pesachian later told state television that his recent meet with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei lasted seven hours, during which they discussed a broad range of issues, from domestic issues, including people's livelihoods, and even the state of the market. War, however, remains the focus, is what Pesachian said. On Monday, Iran's Supreme Leader announced a major reshuffling of the country's military and IRGC command center, making six new appointments. Major General Pilot Ali Abdullahi has been appointed as staff chief of Iran's armed forces, thereby replacing the late Abdul Rahim Mousavi. Brigadier General Qomar Hevdari has been named his deputy. This comes even as Mojtaba Khamenei has made no public appearances since becoming Supreme Leader. Questions linger over his whereabouts that have only been deepening after Iranian media also released an undated video perpetually showing Mojtaba Khamenei.