U.S. President Donald Trump formally notified Congress that he would resume war with Iran. By again securing a 60-day grace period to use military force in the region without congressional approval, the drawn-out armed clashes and bargaining over negotiations between the United States and Iran around the Strait of Hormuz are expected to drag on.
According to Politico, a U.S. political media outlet, on the 13th local time, Trump informed Congress in a letter sent on the 10th that airstrikes against Iran would newly begin on the 7th. In this letter, Trump specified the resumption of military operations and said it was "military action consistent with my responsibility to protect Americans and U.S. interests at home and abroad."
With this letter notification as the starting point, the Trump administration newly secured a 60-day legal window to freely deploy military force in the Middle East without prior congressional consent. The United States declared a truce with Iran in Apr. Trump informed Congress of the end of the war in May, the very next month. But despite the truce declaration, sporadic clashes between the two countries continued, and the end-of-war agreement was scrapped after two months. Officials with the U.S. Central Command said, "U.S. forces struck more than 300 Iranian military targets over the past week."
With the war officially resumed, the United States and Iran are engaging in fiercer psychological warfare than before over control of the Strait of Hormuz, the key chokepoint in the global energy supply chain. On the 13th, Trump said he would restore Iran's maritime blockade and impose tolls on ships passing through the strait, ratcheting up military pressure.
As Trump again takes hold of war powers, congressional backlash in the United States is expected to intensify. The Senate and the House last month each passed a resolution urging a halt to Iran-related military operations without congressional approval. Politico reported, "War opponents in Congress have criticized the White House for misinterpreting laws related to the use of force."
However, in the letter, Trump said, "The U.S. military stands ready to address additional threats and attacks against the United States and its allies and to take necessary and appropriate additional measures to ensure the Iranian government is no longer a threat," maintaining a hard-line stance to continue military responses. As a result, experts said the brinkmanship between the United States and Iran is expected to run on an endless parallel track for the time being.