Tehran, May 1 — Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei sharply rejected Washington’s justification for recent US strikes, calling the campaign “an act of aggression” and denying it amounted to self-defence. In a social media post, Baghaei quoted a US State Department claim that the strikes were carried out “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,” and challenged that rationale: “’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,” he wrote on Twitter.
Baghaei pressed the legal and factual basis for the US action, insisting there was no Iranian provocation that would permit the use of force and arguing that, absent any initial Iranian strike, the American operation violated international norms.
The remarks arrive as the Trump administration continues to say 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. That statute requires the president to withdraw US forces from hostilities within 60 days unless Congress authorises continued action; it also allows a 30-day extension. The 60-day period tied to President Trump’s March 2 notification expires on May 1, raising the prospect of a confrontation between the White House and Congress over whether further authorisation is required.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told NBC News he did not believe congressional authorisation was necessary, saying he did not view the US as engaged in active hostilities and that officials were “trying to broker a peace.” The White House argues that a ceasefire stops the War Powers clock. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth testified to the Senate that because active combat has ceased, the 60-day timeline “pauses or stops in a ceasefire,” a legal interpretation he deferred to White House counsel to defend.
Democrats have disputed that reading. Senator Tim Kaine said the statute does not permit such a pause and warned the 60 days could soon lapse, creating a serious legal question. Senator Adam Schiff urged colleagues to act to end the engagement, noting the human and financial costs: “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 campaign have varied — from warning of possible American casualties during the initial strikes on February 28 to later calling the operation “very complete,” “both” a war and “a little excursion,” and saying in April, “I had to go to a war.” He recently referred to market gains “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 on Iranian and regional targets. Iran responded with attacks on US bases and Israeli positions and disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, contributing to a sharp rise in global oil prices. Any congressional effort to halt the administration’s actions faces political hurdles: a Republican-controlled House and the prospect of a presidential veto. (ANI)
