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Ceasefire Rejected, Strikes Continue
President Donald Trump said the US and Iran remain in talks and that he believes Tehran is “getting more serious,” as US bombing continued for 13 consecutive nights after their ceasefire agreement crumbled earlier this month.
“Tehran is “getting more serious””
CNN reported that Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan said they fended off Iranian attacks again on Friday, while state media said Tehran targeted American military assets in the region hours after US strikes killed four people and partly damaged an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps facility.
The New York Times reported through multiple outlets that Iran rejected a ceasefire proposal carried to Tehran by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, with Iranian officials saying it was the “only offer on the table” and a “temporary deal” that did not resolve who would control the Strait of Hormuz.
In response to the rejection and continued fighting, Trump told Axios, “They haven’t received enough pain yet,” and said he was considering a “massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it,” while also saying the US exit strategy could come diplomatically or militarily.
Competing Statements and Quotes
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state television, “The problem is not passing messages,” and added, “The problem is America’s outlook, which is illogical, greedy and controlling.”
The New York Times reported that al-Zaidi met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and that Iranian officials described the proposal as the “only offer on the table” and a “temporary deal.”
Trump, meanwhile, told reporters in the Oval Office, “We are talking to them. I think they’re getting more and more serious as the days go by,” and said Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are involved.
In a separate dispute over the ceasefire reporting, a U.S. official denied the accuracy of the claim that Iran rejected the proposal, telling CNN that what was in the report was not accurate, while Iranian official media described it as misleading and the Iraqi prime minister’s office denied its accuracy as baseless.
Legislative Limits and Regional Stakes
As the US and Iran traded 12 days of consecutive attacks, the US House passed a resolution to limit Trump’s power to wage war against Iran, with a 214-208 vote after three US military personnel were killed by an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan.
“This war must end”
Al Jazeera quoted Representative Pramila Jayapal saying, “This war must end,” and said under the US Constitution only Congress can declare war, while the 1973 War Powers Act requires congressional approval within 60 days of committing troops.
The same Al Jazeera report said the Senate failed to pass a resolution by a vote of 47 to 49, with two Republicans who had previously supported an earlier version declining to vote, and it noted that House Democrats said the measure sends a message lawmakers oppose Trump’s approach to the war.
Beyond Washington, the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz remained central to the ceasefire talks, with multiple reports tying the proposal’s rejection to whether it would resolve control of the Strait of Hormuz, and with Trump warning the US would hold Iran responsible for any further Houthi attacks and that “major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves.”
