US President Donald Trump has told Congress the Iran conflict has “terminated” despite an ongoing stand-off in the Middle East that continues to affect economies around the world.
Middle East journalist and analyst Borzou Daragahi said the Trump administration is not on “safe ground” legally and constitutionally to continue the war in Iran without Congress approval.
US President Donald Trump has told Congress the Iran conflict has “terminated” despite an ongoing stand-off in the Middle East that continues to affect economies around the world.
Friday marks the sixtieth day since US President Donald Trump formally notified Congress of his strikes in Iran.
That sixty-day mark is significant, because it marks the point at which the administration needs congressional approval to continue the war, but the current administration is arguing that the ceasefire means they do not need to go before congress.
60 days after the beginning of the conflict, the need for congressional approval is urgent.
It means that they have to either say yes you can continue it, or extend it by 30 days or refuse to.
Due to the ceasefire, President Trump has claimed he does not need said approval.
Middle East journalist and analyst Borzou Daragahi said the Trump administration is not on “safe ground” legally and constitutionally to continue the war in Iran without consulting Congress.
Tehran, Iran. Credit Image: Iranian Supreme Leader's Office via ZUMA Press. “It does not appear in the spirit of the law as it was passed and the regulations in the United States”, he told The Hard Shoulder host Ciara Kelly on Friday.
Can the war continue without Congress approval?
Mr Daragahi argued in favour of the constitutional need for congressional approval of the conflict but said members from both the Republic and Democratic party may covertly be in favour of the ongoing conflict.
“They don't want to say they like the conflict”, he explained.
“They are close to the Israeli position in terms of the Middle East and they like conflict because it’s what Israel wants and because it is Trump’s war.
“He is flailing and it gives them an advantage politically in the coming elections.”
He said that while Iran has been clear on its terms to end the conflict, the Trump administration was not a “traditional diplomatic negotiating team”.
“They're just trying to find a way to make the deal whatever it ends up being look good for Trump so that he's not eaten alive by his own base by the pro-Israel faction in the Republican party”, he told Ciara Kelly.
“His main worry is not about how much enriched uranium Iran has or how much it's going to be able to enrich.
“His main worry is solely political and how it looks to the public and to his Republican base.”
US President Donald Trump. President Trump had stated that one of his red lines was accepting to never have nuclear capacities.
“I think it's just Trumpian rhetoric and it shifts all the time”, Mr Daragahi
“I think that he's just flailing and everyone sees that including the Iranians which is a problem.”
He refrained from describing the temporary cessation of hostilities in Southern Lebanon and Israel and Hezbollah as a ceasefire.
“It’s not really a ceasefire”, he told Newstalk.
“What does seem to happen is that there's not a lot of targeting of Beirut by the Israeli forces.”
Daragahi said Donald Trump was in a position to secure a deal to determine the future of the region but faced the issue that the deal is very similar to the one president Obama had.
“He talked about the 2015 nuclear deal as the worst deal ever. But now there are constant calls from the American team to Israel and to the United States seeing if Trump would go for this or Netanyahu would go for that.
“That's not really how you negotiate a deal, especially with a country as opaque and seeped in in kind of old world ways as Iran.”
Main Image: The location of Isfahan in Iran. Picture by: Google Earth.
