Trump tells US Congress hostilities in Iran 'have terminated'

Washington: President Donald Trump told top US lawmakers on Friday that hostilities in Iran had ended, after coming under pressure from Congress to seek authorization for the conflict as it headed into its third month.

"There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated," he wrote in letters to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate president pro tempore Chuck Grassley.

Earlier on Friday, Trump said he was "not satisfied" with a new Iranian negotiating proposal, as peace talks remain frozen despite a weeks-long ceasefire.


Iran delivered the draft to mediator Pakistan on Thursday evening, the IRNA news agency reported, without detailing its contents.

"At this moment I'm not satisfied with what they're offering," Trump told reporters, blaming stalled talks on "tremendous discord" within Iran's leadership.

"Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever -- or do we want to try and make a deal?" he added, saying he would "prefer not" to take the first option "on a human basis."

The war, launched by the United States and Israel with surprise strikes on February 28, has been on hold since April 8, with only one failed round of direct talks since.

Trump, under pressure at home to seek congressional authorization for the war, wrote to lawmakers Friday declaring hostilities "terminated" -- despite no change in the US military posture.