The United States and Iran have exchanged new, conflicting demands during negotiations for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, raising significant doubts about the prospects for a wider deal to end their five-month war. While the US claims it is involved directly in the talks, Iran maintains it is communicating only with Oman, proposing to share future management of the critical waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies were shipped before the conflict began at the end of February.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced he would demand compensation from Iran for deaths and injuries linked to conflicts and attacks over the past several decades. “We’re going to ask for money for the damage they’ve done over a 50-year period,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “So if there’s damages to be paid, I think Iran should pay those damages.”
This escalation followed Iran’s issuance of new demands for reparations last week, stating it would not reopen the strait until Washington meets specific political and economic conditions. Experts note that broader peace negotiations between the two nations are unlikely to restart until the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz is resolved.
“The two sides are further apart,” Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi reported from Tehran. “They are getting more and more distant when it comes to the possibility of any diplomatic settlement.”
The latest developments threaten to complicate the ongoing talks between Tehran and Oman regarding the future management of the strait, despite both Iran and the US previously indicating a desire for an agreement to end the fighting. “Both sides appear to be putting forward maximalist demands ahead of serious negotiations,” said Sina Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Policy.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump specified that Iran should compensate families of the 17 US sailors killed in the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, as well as families of Iranian protesters killed during unrest in January. “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!” Trump wrote.
These demands arrived after Iran insisted the US must compensate Tehran for damage caused by US and Israeli attacks during the current war. Iran says reopening the Hormuz strait, which it essentially closed to shipping shortly after the war began, depends on Washington taking several steps, including agreeing to a set of new demands.
Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council announced six conditions on Saturday: an end to US threats and insults; a permanent cessation of attacks against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq; the lifting of the US naval blockade on Iranian ports; and the withdrawal of US naval and air forces from the region.
Additionally, Iran is demanding compensation for damage from two “imposed wars”—the conflict that began on February 28 and the 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, which the US also joined—along with the unconditional release of frozen Iranian assets.
The escalatory rhetoric from the US president appeared to conflict with comments made by Vice President JD Vance, who on Saturday expressed confidence in reaching a deal. Vance noted that Iran had communicated it has “no plans” to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz, a key point of friction.
However, oil prices jumped more than 5 percent on Monday following Trump’s remarks and continued to rise on Tuesday as hopes for a deal faded. Tehran-based political analyst Hossein Royvaran suggested the standoff will ultimately be a test of endurance. “The question is, who cries out first?” he told Al Jazeera, noting that there is deep internal discontent within the US regarding the war’s consequences.
Despite the tension, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that negotiations with Oman over new shipping lanes in the strait are in their “final stages.” Araghchi reiterated that there are no direct talks with the US, though messages are being exchanged through intermediaries. As positions harden, the possibility of a diplomatic breakthrough remains increasingly uncertain.
Mortazavi said the latest US stance is especially sensitive.
“Trump’s new demands are particularly problematic because they introduce issues that go beyond ending the current conflict.
If compensation over protests and other past events becomes a genuine US condition for an agreement, rather than simply a negotiating position, it could make a deal extremely difficult for Tehran to accept,” she added.
Tehran has previously indicated that it has lost trust in US negotiators because the US has commenced attacks three times on Iran while previous talks had been going on.
“This equation now exists: closure vs blockade.
“Right now, America is suffering: in petrol prices, in inflation, in the rising cost of living at home.
“The same is true in Iran, though in Iran there are justifications society finds acceptable: that this war was imposed on Iran and Iran had no choice but to defend itself.”
