Iran War Aftermath: War Reparations Claim – OpEd

The law of reparations for war damage dictates that a State responsible for an internationally wrongful act - such as illegal warfare - must make full reparation for injury caused -- Ref: Articles 1, 31, 34, and 35 on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (ARSIWA), International Law Commission (ILC), 2001.

When asked by a reporter during Japan's prime minister Sanei Takaichi visit, “Why didn’t you tell US allies in Europe and Asia and Japan about the war before attacking Iran”, Trump responded: “One thing you don’t want to signal too much, you know, when we go in, we went in very hard and we didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”

The surprise Japanese strike on the US naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941 killed 2,390 Americans and the US declared war on Japan the next day. Then president Franklin Delano Roosevelt called it “a date which will live in infamy”.

Supporting Trump, his son Eric posted on the X social media platform: “One of the great responses to a reporter in history”.

Trump failed to emphasise that not only was the strike an act of war but that it was initiated whilst Iran and the U.S. were in negotiations aimed at addressing American concerns about Iran's nuclear capability. 

War Reparations 

Historical precedent, international law on war reparations which allows the victim of a “surprise” military strike such as that launched by Japan and Germany during the 2nd WW to claim reparations, and Iran’s ultimate position on the issue will likely be an important aftermath of the war. 

As of March 2026, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has demanded that the U.S. and Israel pay reparations and provide guarantees against future aggression as core conditions to end the war. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has reinforced this, asserting that "reparations will be paid" and demanding a permanent end to attacks, not just a temporary ceasefire. 

Iran has also demanded compensation from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, charging that their territory was used for US-Israeli strikes, which violated international law and constitutes "material and moral damages".

​Estimated War Damage and Casualty Metrics (Mid March 2026)

​Under international law, reparations typically cover restitution, monetary compensation, and guarantees of non-repetition.  

​While a final fully accounted total by Iran awaits the end of the war, the following data points, including those by US and Israel official sources providing daily assessments of the impact of their bombing strikes, gives some indication of the scale of reparations that Iran can claim.

Direct Civilian Damage and Human Casualties 

This category covers the physical destruction of property and the human cost of the conflict, which are central to any war reparations claim. Reports indicate highly significant damage, though the exact numbers vary by source.

Category of Damage Reported Estimate And Source 

1.Civilian Structures Damaged 

• 42,914 buildings Iranian Red Crescent Society .
• 22,000 buildings UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) .

2.Breakdown of Damaged Structures 

• 36,489 residential units 
• 6,179 commercial facilities Official data from the Iranian Red Crescent Society
• 10,000 damaged homes in Tehran alone Anadolu Ajansı .

3.Civilian Casualties 

• Over 1,245 killed; over 12,000 injured. Reported by the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) and Amnesty International. Under precedent, such as the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) for Kuwait*, the compensation for "serious personal injury or death" is a primary category for liability.  

4.Attacks on Civilian Infrastructure

• Schools, hospitals, cultural heritage sites, and critical infrastructure. A specific attack on a girls' school in Minab killed at least 168 people .

5. ​Infrastructure & Military Assets 

• The strikes have targeted nuclear facilities, missile production sites, and air defense systems across 9,000 targets in Iran. Historical comparisons suggest that rebuilding modern military and nuclear infrastructure involves costs in the tens of billions of dollars.  

6. Economic & Energy Damages 

• Iran’s Foreign Ministry has characterized strikes on fuel depots in Tehran as "ecocide," citing long-term health and environmental damage. Damage to energy infrastructure (like Kharg Island) is often calculated not just by repair costs, but by lost revenue—which can reach hundreds of millions of dollars per day during outages. The war has also undoubtedly disrupted all normal economic activity within Iran, from manufacturing and agriculture to services and trade. The cost of this internal economic paralysis would form a major part of any reparations calculation.

​Historical Precedents for Calculation

​If Iran were to pursue these claims through a mechanism like the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or a specialized compensation commission, the "amount" would likely be built on these benchmarks.

The final liability amount would likely be a "global" figure—combining direct physical repairs, environmental cleanup for "ecocide," and massive payouts for civilian loss of life—potentially exceeding several hundred billion US$ based on the scale of modern infrastructure destruction.

For now Iran has argued that U.S. "maximum pressure" campaigns constitute economic warfare and some Iranian officials have frequently cited damages exceeding $1 trillion in lost oil revenue, industrial stagnation, and social and economic crises (health, education, utilities shortages).

Although the U.S. and Israel currently maintain that their strikes are legally justified as "preemptive self-defense" or "maximum pressure", international law experts contest this, labeling the February 2026 strikes as a violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter.  

Trump’s assertion of a surprise military strike on Iran in the fashion of Japan’s Pearl Harbour attack leaves no doubt as to who started the war and is the belligerent. How much this surprise attack and continuing war will cost the US may come back to haunt Trump, his administration and the American public in more ways than just the moral and ethical concerns.

*The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) was established in 1991 to process claims and pay compensation for damages resulting from Iraq’s 1990–1991 invasion and occupation of Kuwait. The UNCC awarded approx. US$3 billion for environmental remediation, including groundwater treatment and desert restoration. By 2022, the UNCC paid over $50 billion in total reparations to individuals, corporations, and governments, with the final payment made in early 2022, effectively concluding the compensation process.