US president’s statement is latest sign that negotations to end war and reopen strait of Hormuz have stalled
Donald Trump has said he will demand that Iran pay compensation for the deaths of thousands of US soldiers and Iran’s own civilians killed in recent decades in the latest sign his negotiations to end the war and reopen the strait of Hormuz have reached an impasse.
The US president is trying to end conflicts in Iran, Gaza and Lebanon, and his additional demands of Iran are likely to provoke anger in Tehran at the same time as Israel has rejected Trump’s terms for a 15-point roadmap to end the war in Gaza.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was issuing the demand for war reparations in response to Iranian negotiators making similar claims for damages for the five-month war that has killed thousands and devastated Iran’s military and economy.
I almost get it. The Iranian regime really are a bunch of bastards. This is not, however, the response of a measured diplomat and statesman, or even a realpolitik operator. It’s the response of an arrogant, petulant, ignorant baby-man who’s determined to take the bait every time and cede the moral high ground to an utterly inhumane regime that makes his kiddie-pool fascism look quaint. Not doing that is a big part of why the former administrations in both parties never did something as stupid as kick off open military conflict with Iran.