US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has rejected Iran’s demand for war reparations, saying Tehran should instead pay compensation because it had “destabilised the region.”
He made the remarks after a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers in Paris on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
“Iran is demanding reparations. They should be the ones paying reparations because they’re the ones that have destabilised the region for long periods of time,” Rubio told reporters.
“They’re demanding pallets of cash, which the president has made clear is not going to happen.”
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Rubio said Washington would not pay Iran for war damage.
His comments came after Iran set conditions for ending the conflict, including the lifting of the US naval blockade and sanctions, the release of frozen state assets and reparations for damage caused by US and Israeli strikes.
The big picture
Rubio told G7 ministers that US sanctions and the naval blockade were working well enough that President Donald Trump did not need to launch major combat operations against Iran “at this point.”
He said Washington had "options beyond war" or accepting what it considers unacceptable Iranian demands, Reuters reported.
The dispute over reparations is one of the main obstacles to a diplomatic settlement.
