Tehran [Iran], May 1 (ANI): Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei criticised the United States over its military campaign targeting the Islamic Republic, rejecting Washington’s justification for the strikes.
In a social media post, Baghaei accused the US of a war of “aggression” and challenged claims the operations amounted to “self-defence.” He cited a US State Department statement that said: “The United States engaged in this conflict at the request of and in the collective self-defense of its Israeli ally, as well as in the exercise of the United States’ own inherent right of self-defense.”
“‘Self-defense’ against what? Was there any ‘armed attack’ by Iran to justify ‘self defense’? Definitely not! So this was absolutely NOT ‘self-defense’ — it was an act of AGGRESSION against the nation of Iran,” the spokesperson wrote in a post shared on Twitter.
Baghaei questioned the legal and factual basis for the US action, insisting there was no Iranian provocation to justify the use of force and arguing that the absence of an initial strike by Tehran made the American response illegal under international norms.
These accusations come as the Trump administration maintains the United States is “not at war” with Iran, even as the military engagement approaches a key legal deadline under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, raising the prospect of a confrontation between the White House and Congress.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told NBC News that congressional authorisation was unnecessary at this point, saying he did not believe the US was engaged in active hostilities and that officials were “trying to broker a peace.” When asked about the War Powers Resolution’s 60-day limit, which expires on May 1 after President Trump notified Congress on March 2, Johnson was adamant: “We are not at war.”
The War Powers statute requires the president to withdraw US forces from hostilities within 60 days unless Congress grants authorisation; it also allows a 30-day extension. With no authorisation obtained, the deadline has fuelled concerns of a constitutional standoff.
The White House argues that a ceasefire halts the War Powers clock. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told a Senate hearing that because active combat has ceased, the 60-day timeline “pauses or stops in a ceasefire,” and he deferred to White House counsel on the legal interpretation.
Democrats disagree. Senator Tim Kaine said he did not believe the statute permitted such a pause and warned the 60 days could end imminently, creating a significant legal question for the administration. Senator Adam Schiff said the milestone could prompt colleagues to act to end the engagement, adding: “After two months of war, thirteen service members’ lives lost, and billions of dollars squandered, it is time we recognised that the price we have paid is already too high.”
President Trump’s public descriptions of the action have varied. During the initial strikes on February 28 he warned of possible American casualties, saying “that often happens in war.” By March 9 he described the conflict as “very complete, pretty much,” and later called the mission “both” a war and “a little excursion.” In mid-April he said, “I had to go to a war,” and in a recent Newsmax interview referred to record market levels reached “during the war, or the military operation, whatever you’d like to call it.”
The hostilities began on February 28 with coordinated US and Israeli strikes against Iranian and regional targets. Iran retaliated by striking US bases and Israeli positions and by disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, driving a sharp rise in global oil prices.
Any congressional effort to halt the administration’s actions faces obstacles: a Republican-controlled House and the prospect of a presidential veto. (ANI)
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