The Trump administration is racing to negotiate a second ceasefire with Iran before the current truce expires Tuesday and ahead of a looming 60-day War Powers deadline that could force an end to U.S. military involvement.
Yet talks hit a snag after the United States seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship it accused of evading a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran responded by closing the strait again after briefly reopening it over the weekend and has given no indication it is willing to roll back its nuclear program.
President Donald Trump has deputized Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner to lead a second round of negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is unclear, however, whether Iranian leaders have agreed to meet with the U.S. officials. The war, now in its eighth week, has extended beyond the 4-to-6 week timeline the administration originally touted.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian claimed that “war is not in anyone’s interest.
“And with steadfastness in the face of threats, all rational and diplomatic means must be utilized to reduce tensions,” Pezeshkian said.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly weighed in to say: “All of President Trump’s actions, including destroying Iran’s ballistic missiles, production facilities, and navy under Operation Epic Fury and intercepting the Iranian-flagged TOUSKA, have increased the United States’ leverage on Iran as negotiators work make a deal that is acceptable to the United States. Conversations continue, and President Trump has been clear that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon. ”
Vance is expected to depart for Islamabad on Tuesday.
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The president spent much of Monday disputing any indication that he is under pressure to end the war. On Truth Social, Trump slammed Democrats as “weak and pathetic” before claiming he wouldn’t let them “rush the United States into making a Deal that is not as good as it could have been.”
Trump told Bloomberg News that it is “highly unlikely” the ceasefire would extend if a deal isn’t reached this week. “I’m not going to be rushed into making a bad deal. We’ve got all the time in the world,” Trump said.
He also told PBS that without a deal, “then lots of bombs start going off.”
Trump actually has until May 1 before the war with Iran must be terminated or Congress legally authorizes military force, according to the War Powers Resolution of 1973. He officially notified Congress of Operation Epic Fury, which launched the war, on March 2, not on Feb. 28 when the strikes against Iran began.
Trump could try to extend the 60-day deployment an extra 30 days, without congressional approval, if he can prove the necessity of the military force in Iran. But Democrats and some Republicans have indicated their patience will not extend beyond May 1, the 60-day mark.
“It is very likely that I would vote not to authorize further hostilities,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said at a Semafor World Economy summit last week.
“I have said from the very beginning that if the military hostilities in Iran continue to that 60th day, then I believe the War Powers Act is implemented, and the president would need congressional authorization to continue the war in Iran,” Collins said.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), another GOP senator willing to buck Trump, indicated that lawmakers in the upper chamber are working on authorization for use of military force in the Iran war.
“I hope that we are arriving at an exit strategy here to bring this to a close to preserve our security interests and bring down the cost of gasoline,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said last week.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are planning another war powers vote as soon as this week.
The GOP is defending a narrow majority in the House and a wider margin in the Senate against Democrats, who have slammed Trump over the war. Rising gas prices — now above $4 in some areas — have ratcheted pressure on Republicans to bring the conflict to a close ahead of the midterm elections.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright claimed gas prices may not fall to the $3 range before 2027, a statement at odds with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s previous comments that gas could hit that range sometime between June 20 and Sept. 20.
Trump later rejected Wright’s comments on Monday, telling the Hill that gas prices will fall below $3, “as soon as this [war] ends.”
“No, I think he’s wrong on that,” Trump said of Wright. “Totally wrong.”
A Republican with close ties to the White House told the Washington Examiner that the Iran war “is one of these things where there is no playbook for it.”
Yet despite the fluid nature of negotiations, the Republican also expressed doubt that Congress would pass a new Authorization for Use of Military Force.
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“Herein lies the issue for Murkowski and Collins, Trump is indemnified because he still has the AUMF in place from the early 2000s, the same one that Obama relied on, the same one that Bush relied on, the same one that Biden relied on,” they said. “So this notion that you’re going to pass through a new AUMF in three days is extremely unlikely.
“There’s not enough senators to break to get them 60 votes that they need to solidify the AUMF,” the Republican said. “And that’s assuming that somehow the House is going to agree to that. … Speaker Johnson is going to hold the line.”
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