Trump demands Iran compensation as Strait of Hormuz talks collapse, oil prices surge

In the long contest between Washington and Tehran, a new demand has entered the room: before any ships move freely through the Strait of Hormuz, someone must pay for the dead. President Trump, facing stalled negotiations and a closed waterway that carries a fifth of the world's oil, introduced an unprecedented compensation claim against Iran on Monday — one that Iran met with its own mirror-image demand. What was already a difficult diplomatic passage has grown narrower still, and the world's energy markets are beginning to feel the walls close in.