The United States and Iran have exchanged new, competing 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. The impasse has led to a surge in global oil prices, which jumped more than 5 percent on Monday following the latest US announcements, with further increases recorded on Tuesday as hopes for a breakthrough faded.
While the US maintains it is involved directly in the talks, Iran insists it is communicating solely with Oman. Tehran proposes sharing future management of the critical waterway with the Omani government. Before the US-Israel war on Iran began at the end of February, one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies were shipped through this vital transit point.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced he would demand compensation from Iran for deaths and injuries linked to conflicts and attacks over several decades. This followed Iran’s issuance of new demands for reparations for the current war, stating it would not reopen the strait until Washington meets its specific political and economic conditions.
Experts noted that broader peace negotiations between the two nations are unlikely to restart until the issue of the Strait of Hormuz and its future management is settled. “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 further complicate the 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.
Mortazavi noted that the latest US stance is especially sensitive. In turn, Tehran is seeking significant guarantees, not only for an end to the fighting but also “assurances that the conflict will not simply restart later, as well as economic relief after the war.”
Trump stated that Iran should pay compensation for people killed or seriously wounded through Iranian actions. “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.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US leader said Iran should compensate families of the 17 US sailors killed in an October 2000 attack in Yemen on the naval vessel USS Cole, which was blamed on al-Qaeda, not Iran. He also demanded compensation for the families of Iranian protesters killed during antigovernment 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 followed Iran’s insistence that the US should compensate Tehran for damage caused by US and Israeli attacks during this year’s war. Tehran specifically requested compensation for damage from what it called two “imposed wars,” referring to the war begun on February 28 and the 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, which the US also joined.
The escalatory rhetoric from the US president appeared to conflict with comments made by Vice President JD Vance, who on Saturday expressed confidence about reaching a deal with Iran, suggesting it would be beneficial for the American public. Vance also claimed Iran had told the US it has “no plans” to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz, a point of significant friction.
Iran maintains that reopening the strait, which it essentially closed to shipping shortly after the war began, depends on Washington taking several steps. These include six conditions announced by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Saturday: an end to US threats and insults; a permanent end to attacks against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq; and the lifting of the US naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Additional Iranian demands include the withdrawal of US naval and air forces from the region, compensation for the aforementioned “imposed wars,” and the unconditional release of frozen Iranian assets. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that negotiations with Oman over a new shipping arrangement, including the definition of new shipping lanes, have reached their “final stages.”
According to Tehran-based political analyst Hossein Royvaran, the outcome of the standoff will depend on which party has the greatest endurance. “But the question is, who cries out first?” he told Al Jazeera, noting that there is deep discontent inside America over the war and its consequences for society. As positions harden, the prospect of a diplomatic breakthrough remains increasingly uncertain.
Source: Aljazeera
