The US Senate on 22 April voted 51 to 46 to reject a Democratic-initiated restriction on President Donald Trump’s authority to use military force against Iran.
It was the fifth such attempt since the start of the eight-week conflict. The proposal, initiated by Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, would have required the withdrawal of US military forces from fighting in or against Iran if Congress did not approve.
Democrat John Fetterman voted with the Republican majority against the measure, while Republican Rand Paul joined Democrats in supporting it.
Democrats said they would continue to push for further votes on war powers.
Late in the evening of 21 April, the US president announced a day before the end of the ceasefire with Iran that the truce would be extended.
As Trump noted, he decided to extend the truce at the request of authorities in Pakistan, the mediator in the US-Iran talks. Trump did not name a new deadline, noting that the US will wait until Iranian authorities formulate a “unified” negotiating position. According to Trump, there is now a split in Iran’s leadership.
At the same time, the US president noted that the United States will continue its blockade of Iran’s ports, under which the US Navy has already seized at least two vessels: an Iranian tanker and a cargo ship.
Meanwhile, Iran’s chief negotiator, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, criticised the US blockade of Iranian ports amid uncertainty over the prospects for further peace talks with the United States, repeating Tehran’s claim that the restriction is a violation of the ceasefire the countries had agreed to earlier in April.
Qalibaf added that “the restoration of the Strait of Hormuz is impossible with such a blatant violation of the ceasefire.”
Qalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation to talks with the United States in Islamabad earlier this month that did not lead to an agreement, made no direct comment on the prospect of a second round of talks or on US President Donald Trump’s decision to extend the two-week ceasefire that was due to expire on 22 April.