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<\/p>\nUS President Donald Trump said he was \u201cnot satisfied\u201d with Iran\u2019s latest proposal in negotiations to end the war between the countries, rejecting the plan almost as soon as it was delivered.<\/p>\n
Iran handed over its latest proposal for negotiations to mediators in Pakistan on Thursday night (local time), Iran\u2019s state-run IRNA news agency reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey want to make a deal, I\u2019m not satisfied with it, so we\u2019ll see what happen,\u201d Trump told reporters Friday at the White House.<\/p>\n
The shaky three-week ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to still be holding, though both countries have traded accusations of violations.<\/p>\n
Trump did not elaborate on what he saw as the latest proposal\u2019s shortcomings. \u201cThey\u2019re asking for things I can\u2019t agree to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Negotiations have continued by phone after Trump called off his envoys\u2019 trip to Pakistan last week, the president said. He expressed frustration with Iran\u2019s leadership, describing it as fractured.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very disjointed leadership,\u201d he said. \u201cThey all want to make a deal, but they\u2019re all messed up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Explosion of bombs left over from strikes kill 14 Iranian Revolutionary Guard members<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, an explosion of leftover bombs from strikes during the war against Iran killed 14 members of the Revolutionary Guard, Iranian media reported today.<\/p>\n
A report by the Nournews website, believed to be close to Iran\u2019s security, said the explosion happened near the northern city of Zanjan, which is northwest of Tehran.<\/p>\n
It was the largest number of Revolutionary Guard members reported to be killed since the ceasefire began on April 7. The report said the ammunition included cluster bombs and air mines dropped during the fighting.<\/p>\n
Trump says deadline for Congress to approve Iran war doesn’t apply: Hostilities have ‘terminated’<\/p>\n
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President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he prepares to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
The White House asserted to Congress in a letter Friday that hostilities with Iran have \u201cterminated\u201d despite the continued presence of US armed forces in the region.<\/p>\n
The message from Trump effectively skirts a May 1 legal deadline to gain approval from members of Congress to continue the war with Iran. That deadline was already set to pass without action from Republican lawmakers who are deferring to the president.<\/p>\n
The letter brings into stark relief the bold but legally questionable assertion of presidential power at the heart of Trump\u2019s war, which he began without congressional approval two months ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated,\u201d Trump wrote House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator Chuck Grassley, the Senate president pro tempore.<\/p>\n
He also made it clear in the letter that the war may be far from over.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the success of United States operations against the Iranian regime and continued efforts to secure a lasting peace, the threat posed by Iran to the United States and our Armed Forces remains significant,\u201d the Republican president said.<\/p>\n
Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, Congress must declare war or authorise the use of force within 60 days \u2014 Friday was the deadline \u2014 or within 90 days if the president asks for an extension. This Congress made no attempt at enforcing that requirement, leaving town Thursday for a week after the Senate rejected a Democratic attempt to halt the war for a sixth time.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has shown no interest in seeking congressional approval at all. It contends the deadlines set by the law do not apply because the war in Iran effectively ended when a shaky ceasefire began in early April.<\/p>\n
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday he did not plan on a vote to authorise force in Iran or otherwise weigh in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m listening carefully to what the members of our conference are saying, and at this point I don\u2019t see that,\u201d Thune said.<\/p>\n
The reluctance to defy Trump on the war comes at a politically perilous time for Republicans, with public frustration mounting both over the conflict and its impact on gas prices. Still, most GOP lawmakers say they are supportive of Trump\u2019s wartime leadership or are at least willing to give him more time amid the fragile ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Republican Senator Kevin Cramer said he would vote for an authorisation of war if Trump asked for it. But Cramer questioned whether the resolution passed during the Vietnam War era, as a way for Congress to claw back its power, was constitutional.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur founders created a really strong executive, like it or not like it,\u201d Cramer said.<\/p>\n
Some GOP senators did make clear that they eventually want Congress to have a say.<\/p>\n
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski said in a floor speech Thursday that she will introduce a limited authorised use of military force when the Senate returns from the one-week recess if the administration has not presented what she called a \u201ccredible plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not believe we should engage in open-ended military action without clear accountability,\u201d Murkowski said. \u201cCongress has a role.\u201d<\/p>\n
US and Iran remain locked in Hormuz standoff<\/p>\n
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A man stands in the water, appearing to fish, as bulk carriers, cargo ships, and service vessels line the horizon in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
While the ceasefire has largely halted fighting in Iran, the US and Iran are locked in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world\u2019s traded oil and gas passes in peacetime. A US Navy blockade stopping Iran’s tankers<\/a> from getting out to sea has Iran\u2019s economy reeling. The world economy is also under pressure as Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait.<\/p>\n Trump this week floated a new plan to reopen the critical passageway<\/a> used by America’s Gulf allies to export their oil and gas.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a flurry of calls with many of his regional counterparts, including from Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Azerbaijan, to brief them on his country\u2019s latest initiatives to end the war, according to his social media.<\/p>\n