President Donald Trump on Monday turned the tables on Iran's demand for war reparations, instead insisting Tehran compensate Americans killed by Iranian-backed militants over decades of conflict. Trump dismissed Iran's claim that it hadn't raised reparations until now, calling for payment to families of victims killed by roadside bombs and other attacks.
The president said he's demanding "compensation from Iran, for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts." He also wants Tehran to pay families of Iranian protesters killed by their own government. Trump instructed his representatives to include these demands in all future negotiations.
Iran's Escalating Demands
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Iran won't reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the U.S. meets its conditions. Tehran wants the U.S. to end its blockade of Iranian ports, lift economic sanctions and release frozen assets. It's also demanding war reparations. Baghaei said, "It is up to the U.S. side to stop and make amends for its illegal and destructive actions."
The U.S. government has blamed Iran-backed militants for deaths and injuries of hundreds of Americans over several decades. Those include a 1983 bombing that killed 241 U.S. military personnel at a Marine compound in Beirut 43 years ago and the deaths of at least 603 U.S. troops in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has kept energy prices elevated ahead of November's midterm elections. Roughly one-fifth of the world's traded oil supplies passed through the strait before the war.
Leadership Crisis in Tehran
Iran's president said Monday the country's supreme leader is calling for "unity and cohesion" as the Islamic Republic faces economic hardships and sanctions stemming from its war with the United States. President Masoud Pezeshkian described a nearly seven-hour meeting with Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in an interview with Iranian state television that aired amid apparent tensions among the Islamic Republic's leaders.
Pezeshkian told state-run IRIB that he and Khamenei discussed "people's livelihoods, the state of the market, employment, people's housing," as well as "problems that are now being created as a result of the (U.S.) sanctions." He didn't say when or where they met. Khamenei emphasized unity, according to Pezeshkian. "All of the enemy's plans are aimed at creating division," Pezeshkian said. "What we have to do is prevent divisions from emerging."
It's only the second time the Iranian president has said he met with the new supreme leader since Khamenei was appointed in March following a U.S.-Israeli strike that killed his father. Khamenei, believed to have been wounded in the same attack, hasn't appeared in public since then.
Hard-liner Takes Security Post
Iran on Sunday appointed Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to its new supreme leader, to head its powerful Supreme National Security Council. Rezaei commanded Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard from 1981 to 1997, a period that includes Iran's 1980s war with Iraq. The 71-year-old hard-liner last week threatened American forces with "serious risks and casualties" if the U.S. didn't lift its blockade of Iranian ports.
Rezaei replaces Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who will become a political adviser to Khamenei. The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, wrote that Rezaei appears willing to negotiate with the U.S. to "secure Iran's maximalist aims, including control of the Strait of Hormuz," but has also been "unwilling to present any Iranian concessions."
West Bank Security Measures
Israel's military said Monday it declared a Christian-majority town in the occupied West Bank a closed military zone to keep out Israeli settlers and other non-residents. The new tactic is designed to keep Israelis out of Taybeh, which has been subject to arson, vandalism and settlers coming onto private and village property.
The army said Palestinian residents and journalists would be allowed unless soldiers determine their presence poses a threat. Troops would detain suspects and disperse gatherings to keep the peace. The designation comes after months of the army and police struggling to maintain order throughout the territory, where at least 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in 2026, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry.
Yemen Violence Continues
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a Red Sea port town controlled by government forces on Sunday, killing seven and injuring 30 people. Yemen's Defense Ministry, which operates under its internationally recognized government, said four military personnel and three civilians were killed. Clashes continued Monday near the village of Taiz.
The Houthi group said a 13-year-old child was killed by artillery shelling and another child was injured. The attack on Mokha is the latest in one of the largest waves of Houthi strikes on Yemeni military positions and areas held by the Saudi-backed government since a 2022 truce four years ago. It comes as threats to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have renewed focus on the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait at its southern tip.
Why This Matters:
Trump's counter-demand for reparations underscores the escalating diplomatic standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, which directly impacts American consumers through elevated energy prices ahead of crucial midterm elections. Iran's appointment of a hard-line Revolutionary Guard veteran to its top security post signals Tehran isn't preparing to make concessions, despite mounting economic pressure from U.S. sanctions. The regime's internal divisions, evidenced by the supreme leader's call for unity and his continued absence from public view, suggest vulnerability that could affect negotiations. For American families who lost loved ones to Iranian-backed attacks over four decades, Trump's demand represents long-overdue accountability. The continued Houthi attacks in Yemen demonstrate Iran's willingness to use proxy forces even as it negotiates, complicating efforts to secure vital shipping lanes and stabilize global energy markets.