Iran Is Seeking Compensation From The U.S. Over War Damages. Trump Is Now Doing It Too.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. will seek compensations from Iran for war damages after Tehran made such a claim during the weekend.

In a social media publication, Trump said he noticed the demands from Tehran and, as a result, he is "demanding compensation from Iran, for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts, for which they are famous, as led initially by General Soleimani, including the families of those killed on the USS Cole, and thousands of others killed in combat."

"Additionally, compensation should be paid to the families of the hundreds of thousands of innocent protestors that Iran has killed over the last 50 years, not to mention the 52,000 that have been killed in the last five months. I have instructed my representatives to put this firmly into any, and all, future negotiations," he added.

Trump had already signaled a shift to economic, rather than military pressure on Monday as a deal with Iran remains elusive.

"We are low-keying it," Trump told Axios on Sunday. "We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money."

The president went on to say that the country is in "very bad shape," claiming that the situation will "work out." "It always works out. It's like a chess game," he said.

Top U.S. officials had anticipated last week that a deal to reopen the key waterway was imminent. However, the announcement never came as Tehran rejected Washington was involved in talks and said it continued negotiating with Oman.

Over the weekend, Iran set out fresh conditions to reopen the waterway. The Supreme National Security Council's secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, said conditions include an end of U.S. aggressive behavior, "including any threats to the country's national and religious sanctities."

A permanent end to the "war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq" is another demand.

Apart from lifting the Naval blockade enforced by the US, Iran has also sought a withdrawal of the US naval and air forces from Iran's neighborhood. A full compensation package "for damages caused by two wars of aggression and imposition," lifting of "unjust and illegal" sanctions and unconditional release of Iranian assets "that were blocked and stolen" completed the terms set by Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday there was "no possibility of restarting negotiations" as long as the U.S. violates the memorandum of understanding reached between the countries earlier this year. "Intermediaries are still making efforts to find ways to resume negotiations," the official said.