Trump resets Iran war clock as ceasefire collapses again

Trump told Congress hostilities resumed on July 7 and declared the ceasefire with Iran “over.” The administration’s July 10 notification started a fresh 60-day War Powers window even as U.S. strikes continued and the White House said American forces remained “postured to take further action.”

The ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran had been meant to create 60 days for negotiations over a permanent deal. Talks in Qatar failed to produce a breakthrough before the fighting restarted.

Congress never authorized the war against Iran, yet it also never fully objected to it. The Pentagon’s official toll rose to 14 service members after a Navy pilot died in a helicopter crash in early July, and more than 400 U.S. troops have been wounded, most with traumatic brain injuries. Rep. Pat Ryan, an Iraq veteran, said in a press release that 14 service members had been killed, 18 wounded and up to $5 billion had already been spent.

The Council on Foreign Relations warns that the Iran campaign risks repeating the disastrous aftermath of U.S.-led regime change in Iraq, while Foreign Affairs says Trump is finding it hard to extricate the United States from the conflict. Brown University’s Costs of War project estimates that post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Pakistan caused more than 940,000 direct deaths from 2001 through 2023, including more than 432,000 civilians, with another 3.6 million to 3.8 million indirect deaths.

Iran has repeatedly used threats around the Strait of Hormuz as leverage, and any disruption would ripple through energy markets and global trade across the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea and far beyond. The administration’s latest notice gives it another 60 days of room for military action without fresh approval.