The TWZ Newsletter
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
The 60-day clock for President Trump to seek congressional approval for further military actions against Iran was stopped by the April 7 ceasefire, a senior White House official claimed to The War Zone Friday morning. As we previously noted, the president faced a deadline today under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to obtain permission from Congress to continue fighting.
The White House decision comes as the now-paused war is at a stalemate, with both sides believing they can outlast the other. Meanwhile, Trump is considering options for a new round of strikes while Iranians say they have presented new plans for working toward a peace deal.
“For War Powers Resolution purposes, the hostilities that began on Saturday, February 28 have terminated,” the official told us, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. “Both parties agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday, April 7 that has since been extended. There has been no exchange of fire between U.S. Armed Forces and Iran since Tuesday, April 7.”
The administration’s statement today follows War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Congressional testimony yesterday that “the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a ceasefire.”
Under the War Powers Resolution, the use of armed forces should be terminated within 60 days unless Congress has declared war or voted to approve a 30-day extension. Since Trump formally notified Congress about the Iran war on March 2, that deadline fell today. Even though several other presidents have simply ignored the War Powers Resolution, the Trump administration is now arguing that the measure doesn’t really apply to their operation just yet.
It remains unclear how or if Congress will react. It adjourned yesterday for a week-long recess. On Thursday, the Senate rejected the latest of many resolutions intended to halt the war, The Washington Post noted.
Republican lawmakers appear to be deferring to Trump on the issue of the War Powers Resolution. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told The Associated Press on Thursday that he doesn’t plan on a vote to authorize force in Iran or otherwise weigh in.
“I’m listening carefully to what the members of our conference are saying, and at this point I don’t see that,” Thune said.
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said he’d vote for an authorization of war if Trump asked for it. But he questioned if the War Powers Act, passed during the Vietnam War era as a way for Congress to claw back its power, is even constitutional.
“Our founders created a really strong executive, like it or not like it,” Cramer said.
In a post on X, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who joined with nearly all Democrats for the vote, said Trump’s authority as commander in chief is “not without limits.”
The 60-day deadline “is not a suggestion; it is a requirement,” she said, adding that further military action “must have a clear mission, achievable goals, and a defined strategy for bringing the conflict to a close.”
UPDATES
Iran says that it has “delivered its latest proposal for negotiations based on efforts to end the war to Pakistan,” the official Iranian IRNA news outlet reported on Friday.
“Iran handed over the text to Pakistan – a mediator for negotiations with the United States – on Thursday evening,” IRNA stated, without providing any details about what it entailed.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei emphasized in a television interview “that ending the war and establishing a sustainable peace remain Tehran’s main priorities in negotiations with the United States,” according to IRNA.
However, how much the new proposals will move the needle is unclear. Trump’s major demand is that Iran give up its nuclear ambitions. Baqaei’s comments followed those yesterday by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, that seem to be in opposition to Trump’s demand. Khamenei said that his country will protect its “nuclear and missile capabilities” as a national asset and that the only place Americans belong in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters.”
As we noted yesterday, the injured Iranian supreme leader rarely communicates publicly and Trump claims there is a fracture in Tehran’s government, making negotiations difficult. The schism in Iranian leadership should come as no surprise. This is exactly what we predicted could happen before the war even started.
Pakistan has been serving as an intermediary between the U.S. and Iran. Talks in Islamabad on April 11 concluded without reaching an agreement to end the war.
While details of the new plan are unknown, CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson said that from talking to sources, it could involve a situation where the U.S. lifts its blockade of Iranian ports at the same time Iran ends its closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Central Command commander Adm. Brad Cooper and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine briefed President Trump Thursday night for 45 minutes “on new operational plans for potential strikes against Iran,” Axios reported on X, citing two senior American officials.
As we noted yesterday, CENTCOM has prepared three options, according to Axios. They include:
- “Short and powerful” waves of strikes on Iran, likely including infrastructure targets.
- “Taking over part of the Strait of Hormuz to reopen it to commercial shipping. Such an operation could include ground forces,” one source told the outlet.
- A “special forces operation to secure Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.” As we have reported in the past, such an operation faces tremendous challenges and great risk for a questionable chance of success.
“President Trump has all the cards as negotiations continue, and he always has all options at his disposal to ensure that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told us Friday morning in response to our query about the briefing. CENTCOM declined comment and the Joint Chiefs have not responded to our request.
Addressing one of those options listed by Axios, Iranian MP and member of the negotiation delegation Mahmoud Nabavian warned that if Iranian leaders are assassinated in any attack, leaders of Persian Gulf nations “will be killed and their palaces destroyed.”
While Israel has managed to meet its military objectives against Iran, leaving the Islamic Republic with highly enriched uranium would be a huge mistake, a senior military official told the Israeli Ynet media outlet.
The air force established an “Iran Department,” and the goals that had been set were achieved, the anonymous official told the publication.
“Now we will see whether another ‘clarification’ is needed to make them sit down for negotiations,’” the senior military official told the outlet, adding that “without a solution to the issue of uranium enrichment and the nuclear program, it will be one major failure.”
An Iranian official claims that last night, “small enemy drones appeared to assess the country’s air defense, and Iran’s air defense responded decisively.”
“The Islamic Republic must respond offensively to the presence of micro-drones so that the enemy does not make such a mistake again,” said Ali Khodarian, Iranian National Security Commission of the Parliament Member. He did not say whose drones flew over Iran.
The War Zone cannot independently verify that claim, but this would be very much in line with preparations for resuming the air war. Stimulating an enemy’s air defense network via decoy drones would provide critical intelligence on the enemy’s electronic order of battle, including the status and locations of threat emitters and Iran’s ability to respond.
Khodarian’s comments follow video emerging on social media last night showing Iranian air defenses firing over Tehran.
In a major sign of growing cooperation between Israel and Gulf nations spurred by the war, Israel “sent sophisticated weapons systems — including an advanced laser — to the United Arab Emirates to help defend the Gulf monarchy from a ferocious onslaught of Iranian missiles and drones,” Financial Times reported.
Israel sent the UAE a version of its Iron Beam laser defense system, FT stated, citing one person familiar with the deployment and another with knowledge of the preparations to operate the system.
As we have previously explained, Iron Beam is a trailer-mounted weapon using directed-energy to destroy targets, including rockets, mortars, and drones. Reports described the system as firing “an electric 100-150 kW solid-state laser that will be capable of intercepting rockets and missiles.”
It was first deployed by Israel earlier this year to defend against incoming Hezbollah projectiles from Lebanon.
Israel also provided UAE with its lightweight Spectro surveillance system, “which helped the Gulf nation detect incoming drones, especially Shaheds, from as far as 20km away,” the publication stated. The system “integrates a wide range of digital imaging, high-definition optical sensors and advanced lasers, providing simultaneous multi-spectral observation capabilities and enabling ultra-long-range detection,” according to the Israel manufacturer Elbit.
A satellite image emerging on social media purports to show that Iran is continuing to load oil onto tankers at Kharg Island.
“No sign yet Tehran has run out of storage, despite baseless claims from the White House,” Javiar Blas, energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg stated on X.
As we previously reported, Trump suggested that Iran’s oil infrastructure could “explode” in about three days because of mechanical and geologic issues exacerbated by the blockade.
Transits of the Strait of Hormuz continue to decline during the ongoing closure by Iran and U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.
As of April 30, “Hormuz crossings reduced to seven transits, split between four commercial and three non-commercial movements, with direction broadly balanced at four west-to-east versus three east-to-west,” the global trade intelligence firm Kpler stated on X. “Only two laden west-to-east crossings were recorded, under Pakistani and Comoros flags carrying [refined petroleum] and dry bulk, while higher-risk tonnage remained limited with just three shadow or sanctioned vessels observed and the rest assessed low-risk.”
No new physical attacks have been recorded since April 22, Kpler added, with permissive passages continuing.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) group says strait transits have fallen by more than 90%, leaving 850 merchant ships and around 20,000 sailors trapped inside the Gulf and unable to leave.
Despite a ceasefire, Israel said it has continued attacking Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.
Troops from the Paratroopers Brigade, Givati Brigade, Commando Brigade, and the Fire Brigade (214), under the command of the 98th Division, have operated in recent weeks in the area of the town of Bint Jbeil to clear the area of Hezbollah infrastructure and eliminated its fighters, the IDF said on Telegram.
“During the operations, the troops dismantled more than 900 terrorist infrastructure sites, located hundreds of weapons, and eliminated more than 200 terrorists in close-quarters combat and precise airstrikes.”
“After it was identified as booby-trapped, the Israeli Air Force struck and dismantled the stadium as part of the division’s efforts to locate and dismantle infrastructure used for terrorist purposes,” IDF claimed. “The IDF will continue to operate against threats to the citizens of the State of Israel and IDF forces, in accordance with the directives of the political echelon.”
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
