US President Donald Trump has expressed dissatisfaction with Iran\u2019s latest proposal to end the war, questioning whether Iranian officials will \u201cever get there\u201d on a deal. Trump also labeled a law limiting the use of force without congressional authorization as \u201ctotally unconstitutional,\u201d indicating he would not seek official permission from Congress to continue the conflict with Iran.<\/p>\n
Amidst the ongoing tensions, US gas prices have surged to an average of $4.39 per gallon, their highest since July 2022, marking a 33-cent increase in just the last week, largely due to the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed. Meanwhile, in Lebanon, more than a dozen people were killed in Israeli strikes in the southern region yesterday and today, according to the country\u2019s health ministry, despite an extended ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Iranian state media on Friday published a new statement attributed to Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, marking Iran\u2019s Labor Day and Teachers\u2019 Day. Khamenei, who has not been seen publicly for over seven weeks since being announced as the new supreme leader, praised Iran\u2019s workers and teachers in the message, which also served to rally support among Iranians. The statement urged people to support workers by purchasing domestically-made products and advised business owners to avoid layoffs. It also declared Iran \u201chas emerged as a military power after years of effort\u201d and called on teachers to instill \u201cthe Iranian-Islamic identity into the minds and souls of the youth.\u201d This marks the second statement attributed to Khamenei this week, following a message on Thursday where he reiterated his uncompromising vision for the region and taunted neighboring countries.<\/p>\n
In other news, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has been transferred from prison to a hospital due to \u201ca catastrophic deterioration in her health,\u201d her foundation announced. Mohammadi\u2019s family and supporters had spent weeks appealing to the Iranian regime for urgent medical care, appeals that appeared to have been ignored until Friday. The Narges Foundation stated Mohammadi was moved from Zanjan prison to a local hospital in Zanjan province. The foundation had previously reported Mohammadi was on hunger strike in February and in March, detailed her extremely poor health, a suspected heart attack, and denial of specialist medical care. Mohammadi, a prominent human rights activist, received the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her efforts to promote human rights and freedom for all.<\/p>\n
Sources familiar with the negotiation process revealed that Iran sent its latest proposal for negotiations with the United States to Pakistani mediators on Friday. Despite Trump acknowledging Tehran has made \u201cstrides\u201d in negotiations, the specifics of the updated Iranian proposal remain unclear.<\/p>\n
Trump outlined his options on Iran as either a major military escalation or striking a deal. \u201cThere are options. Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever? Or do we want to try and make a deal. That\u2019s the options,\u201d Trump stated, confirming he received an updated briefing on military options from US Central Command yesterday evening. He expressed a preference not to restart the bombing campaign.<\/p>\n
Expressing his dissatisfaction with the latest peace proposal, Trump described Iran\u2019s leadership as \u201cvery disjointed.\u201d Earlier, Iran\u2019s Fars news agency reported that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is \u201ccompletely well\u201d and overseeing \u201cnegotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump also dismissed the 60-day war powers deadline as \u201ctotally unconstitutional,\u201d marking the administration\u2019s latest rejection of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which mandates congressional authorization for the use of force beyond 60 days.<\/p>\n
Outside the US, an Iranian source informed CNN that Tehran might consider restarting talks if the US lifts its blockade of Iranian ports and Iran fully reopens the Strait of Hormuz, while emphasizing Iran\u2019s deep distrust of the US. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made a series of phone calls to his counterparts in Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Azerbaijan today, briefing them on efforts to end the US and Israel\u2019s war with Iran, according to Tasnim news agency.<\/p>\n
In Lebanon, Israeli strikes on the southern town of Habbouch killed six people, including a woman and a child, as reported by Lebanon\u2019s Ministry of Health. The Israeli military confirmed striking the area, stating an evacuation order was issued beforehand, and investigations into the results are ongoing. This strike is the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on Lebanese towns during a supposed ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Over 2,600 people have been killed since the conflict began in early March.<\/p>\n
A Washington Post\/ABC News\/Ipsos poll released today indicates that 61% of Americans believe the US use of military force against Iran was a mistake, a sentiment comparable to public opinion on the Iraq and Vietnam wars. Roughly nine in ten Democrats, 71% of independents, and 19% of Republicans share this view. Opinions are mixed on future steps, with 48% favoring a peace deal even if it\u2019s less favorable to the US, and 46% advocating for pushing Iran for a better deal, even if it means resuming military action.<\/p>\n
The survey also revealed that 23% of Americans are falling behind financially, up from 17% in February, while 52% are maintaining their standard of living, and 24% are getting ahead. Regarding high gas prices, 44% have cut back on driving, 42% on household expenses, and 34% have altered travel plans. Half of Americans anticipate gas prices worsening over the next year.<\/p>\n
Despite Trump\u2019s declaration that the war powers resolution is \u201ctotally unconstitutional,\u201d his administration appears to be making efforts to comply with Congress, according to a letter obtained by CNN. In the letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, Trump asserted that the Iran war \u201chostilities,\u201d which began on February 28, \u201chave terminated\u201d following a ceasefire. He stated, \u201cOn April 7, 2026, I ordered a 2-week ceasefire. The ceasefire has since been extended. There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated.\u201d The letter informed Congress of changes to the US posture in Iran, consistent with the War Powers Resolution, while noting the threat from the Iranian regime \u201cremains significant\u201d and the Defense Department will continue to \u201cupdate its force posture.\u201d The legal interpretation of whether Friday marked the 60-day limit for congressional authorization is debated, with some arguing the ceasefire paused the count.<\/p>\n
President Trump also claimed the United States possesses \u201ctremendous amounts of inventory\u201d globally, criticizing former President Joe Biden for providing Ukraine with US weapons. However, CNN reported last month that the US military has significantly depleted its stockpile of key missiles during the war with Iran, creating a \u201cnear-term risk\u201d of ammunition shortages in future conflicts, according to experts and sources familiar with internal Defense Department assessments. A recent analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies detailed the extent of these expenditures. While the Pentagon has signed contracts to expand missile production, the delivery timeline for replacements is three to five years.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, President Trump expressed dissatisfaction with Kurdish groups, alleging they failed to deliver US weapons to protesters in Iran to foster an uprising. \u201cI\u2019m not happy with the delivery of the weapons. I\u2019m not thrilled with it, but a small amounts of weapons were sent and we\u2019ll see who has them. But I\u2019m not happy with what happened with the Kurds,\u201d Trump stated. In March, CNN reported the Trump administration was discussing providing military support to Iranian opposition groups and Kurdish leaders in Iraq. Kurdish groups have denied Trump\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n
#TrumpIranTalks #IranDeal #WarPowersResolution #MiddleEastConflict #GasPrices #LebanonStrikes #NargesMohammadi #Khamenei #USForeignPolicy #PeaceNegotiations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US President Donald Trump has expressed dissatisfaction with Iran\u2019s latest proposal to end the war, questioning whether Iranian officials will \u201cever get there\u201d on a deal. Trump also labeled a law limiting the use of force without congressional authorization as \u201ctotally unconstitutional,\u201d indicating he would not seek official permission from Congress to continue the conflict […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15158\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}