We're not at war with Iran, US House speaker says as legal deadline ends today

As the 60-day War Powers Resolution deadline nears, a top Trump official says the US is not at war with Iran.

In Short

• 60-day deadline under US War Powers Resolution ends on Friday
• US House Speaker Mike Johnson says US is not at war with Iran
• President Trump calls current actions a military operation, not war

Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, on Thursday said the country is “not at war” with Iran, as a key legal deadline under the War Powers Resolution approaches amid ongoing military operations. His comments also come as US President Donald Trump says that he does not consider it a war.

Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, a US president may engage in military hostilities for only 60 days without a formal declaration of war or explicit authorisation from Congress. President Trump notified Congress of military operations in Iran on March 2 and the deadline falls on Friday.

“I don’t think we have an active, kinetic military bombing, firing or anything like that. Right now, we are trying to broker a peace. I would be very reluctant to get in front of the administration in the midst of these very sensitive negotiations, so we’ll have to see how that plays out," Johnson told NBC News.

When pressed about the 60-day deadline, the speaker said, “We are not at war”.

On the current US engagements in West Asia, Johnson said, “We’re policing the Strait of Hormuz and trying to get a peace".

"The president and the administration are moving as aggressively as possible. There’s nothing Congress can do to move that along any further, so we’ll see how it plays out. That is my position," he added.

I DON'T CALL IT A WAR: TRUMP

Donald Trump also framed US operations as ongoing but not a formal war, calling it a military operation.

While signing an executive order at the White House, he said, "Iran has killed 42,000 people over the last two months ...and that's despite a military operation. I don't call it a war. I'd rather have a military operation. Iran is dying to make a deal".

"Their economy is crashing. The blockade is incredible. The power of the blockade is incredible. They're not getting any money from oil. And hopefully, it can be worked out very soon," he added.

He repeated that US actions had significantly degraded Iran's military capacity, saying, "Their navy's gone. Their air force is gone, their drone factories are about 82 per cent down, and their missile factories are almost 90 per cent down."

The active military campaign against Iran was paused on April 8, when Donald Trump announced an initial two-week ceasefire with Tehran. The truce was later extended indefinitely just hours before it was due to expire on April 21.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, claimed that the Trump administration does not currently need congressional authorisation to continue military actions related to Iran, arguing that a ceasefire effectively pauses legal war powers deadlines.

"Ultimately, I would defer to the White House and the White House counsel on that. However, we are in a ceasefire right now, which, our understanding, means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a ceasefire," Hegseth said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The US and Iran held one round of talks in Islamabad aimed at securing a long-term peace deal, but the discussions failed without a breakthrough. A second round remains uncertain, as both sides remain divided on key issues, particularly Iran’s nuclear capabilities and uranium enrichment.

- Ends