Iran’s Outrageous Demand: Pay Before Talks Start!

Iran is once again playing hardball—and the Biden-era policies that coddled this rogue regime are coming back to bite. According to the Financial Times, Iran’s foreign minister is now demanding that the United States agree to pay “compensation” before any nuclear talks can resume. That’s right: the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism wants America to write them a check before they’ll even sit at the table. It’s not just absurd—it’s insulting. And it’s a direct result of weakness and appeasement in Washington during the previous administration.

Let’s be clear: Iran doesn’t get to dictate terms to the United States. They don’t get to demand payouts for a war they helped provoke through their proxies across the region. But they’re trying—because for four years under Joe Biden, they were emboldened. The Biden White House lifted sanctions, released frozen assets, and practically begged Iran to return to the disastrous 2015 nuclear deal. And what did that get us? Increased uranium enrichment, more attacks on U.S. allies, and a louder, more dangerous Tehran.

Now, after President Trump has returned to leadership and America is rebuilding its global strength, Iran is attempting to lock in demands before talks even begin. This isn’t diplomacy—it’s extortion.

Let’s remember what happened during “last month’s war,” the one Iran claims caused them “losses.” That conflict was triggered by Iran’s own aggression and its financing of Hamas and Hezbollah. Tehran has poured billions into armed militias and terrorist groups stretching from Lebanon to Yemen. They launched attacks on Israel, threatened American troops, and destabilized the entire Middle East. And now, after facing justified responses from Israel and the West, they want to be compensated?

This is the same regime that chants “Death to America” in its parliament. The same regime that funds the slaughter of civilians in Israel. The same regime that tried to assassinate American officials on our own soil. And now they’re demanding handouts?

The audacity of this demand is only possible because the Obama-Biden foreign policy mindset still lingers in parts of the Washington establishment. Remember when Barack Obama sent Iran pallets of cash in the dead of night? That signaled to the mullahs that America could be bought—or bullied. Biden’s return to those failed tactics only reinforced the message. But times have changed.

Under President Trump’s renewed leadership, America is restoring the principle of peace through strength. That means no more begging rogue regimes to negotiate. No more cash-for-terror deals. No more pretending that nuclear appeasement is a solution to radical Islam.

If Iran wants negotiations, they can start by halting uranium enrichment, ending support for terror, and coming to the table without preconditions. Until then, the only “compensation” they deserve is the continued pain of U.S. sanctions and global isolation.

This is a moment for moral clarity. The Iranian regime is not a misunderstood government looking for respect on the world stage. It is a brutal theocracy that murders its own people, funds terrorism, and seeks regional domination. Allowing them to dictate terms—especially after their own provocations—is not diplomacy. It’s surrender.

And for those in Congress or the State Department still clinging to the fantasy that we can “normalize” Iran through appeasement, let this be a wake-up call. Iran’s foreign minister just told you plainly: they don’t want peace. They want tribute.

President Trump understands that you don’t negotiate from a position of weakness. You negotiate from strength, backed by principle. That’s why we pulled out of the failed Iran deal in 2018. That’s why we reinstated crushing sanctions. And that’s why we took out Qassem Soleimani, the architect of Iran’s terror network.

The message to Tehran should be simple: America does not pay terrorists. If you want to rejoin the civilized world, prove it. Otherwise, enjoy your isolation. Because under this administration, the days of paying off America’s enemies are over.