Deadline reached for Trump to seek approval for war with Iran — BBC News

[0:00] Today marks a deadline. It is 60 days since President Trump gave official notice to the [0:05] US Congress that his war with Iran had begun. And under the legislation, which has existed [0:10] since the Vietnam War, the President is under obligation to withdraw US forces or seek [0:16] congressional authorisation to fight on. Right now, there's no sign the President [0:21] is preparing to give way. In fact, all indicators point to the conflict resuming. [0:26] US Central Command has just requested the deployment of hypersonic missiles to the [0:30] Middle East to add to an enormous military deployment already in the region. In Israel, [0:36] where the calls for a return to war are getting louder, the build-up is already underway. The [0:41] Defence Ministry has talked about 6,500 tonnes of munitions arriving in Israel in just the past few [0:48] days. Dozens of US fuel tankers are parked at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport and at the airport in [0:54] Eilat. These are pictures from February showing US Air Force strata tankers parked on the tarmac. [1:01] The Pentagon says it is drawing up options for a short, sharp campaign to try and prize open the [1:06] negotiations. But at what cost? The Pentagon says so far they have spent a conservative $25 billion on [1:15] this war and Democrats are getting increasingly twitchy about where it goes next. [1:20] On Iran, ultimately, I would defer to the White House and White House counsel on that. However, [1:26] we are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or [1:31] stops in a ceasefire. So you're not in. It's our understanding, just so you know. [1:36] Okay, well, I do not believe the statute would support that. I think the 60 days runs maybe tomorrow, [1:41] and it's going to pose a really important legal question for the administration. We have serious [1:48] constitutional concerns and we don't want to layer those with additional statutory concerns. [1:54] Ultimately, the final decision is for the US President. It is not in the hands of the Israeli [1:59] Prime Minister, though Israel strategically does seem to prefer a return to war than a deal. [2:05] Israel and Hezbollah have continued to attack one another in spite of the ceasefire. [2:09] Lebanon's health ministry says Israeli airstrikes in the south killed at least 15 people on Thursday. [2:16] The US Embassy in Beirut has urged Lebanon to engage directly with Jerusalem, [2:20] suggesting there is now limited opportunity to take advantage of the American mediation. [2:27] Let's bring in our correspondent in Jerusalem, Yolan Nel. Does it feel to you [2:31] like there is a groundswell now in Israel for this war to resume? [2:37] Well, we have had these comments from the Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz last night, where he said [2:42] that Israel may soon be required to act again, to act against what he said were existential threats [2:49] from Iran. And the Israeli media is saying that the country is on a state of heightened alert, [2:54] preparing for a possible return to fighting with Iran. And in the background, these reports that [3:01] President Trump has had his military options laid out for him by the leaders of US Central Command. [3:07] There's a lot of speculation in the Israeli media about what the different options being weighed up [3:13] could really look like, with suggestions that there could be a return to some strong, [3:18] powerful strikes targeting Iran's energy infrastructure, government infrastructure, [3:24] once again, trying to put pressure on Iran to make concessions in negotiations. There's also [3:31] other options being talked about, about the idea of special operations forces going into Iran, [3:38] and really targeting its enriched uranium with all the difficulties that that would pose. Also, [3:44] suggestions about ground forces possibly going to try to take control of part of the Strait of Hormuz, [3:51] to ease it up for commercial shipping. But no real decisions made as yet. And really, [3:59] everyone watching to see what decisions come out of the White House. It's interesting too, [4:04] that report that she mentioned from Bloomberg, suggesting that CENTCOM has asked for this hypersonic [4:12] missile to be sent to the Middle East, potentially to be used against Iran. If that were to happen, [4:18] it would be the first time that it had been used in active hostilities. CENTCOM not commenting on that. [4:24] The Iranians have signalled this morning, Yilan, that there will be a major response if the strikes resume. [4:31] Has Israel had time in the interim to replenish what it needs to defend the country? [4:36] I mean, certainly this is something that the country has been preparing for, a resumption of hostilities, [4:44] ever since that sort of tentative ceasefire came into force. And it's very well known that, you know, [4:52] things remain extremely difficult, that the Strait of Hormuz, this important pressure point, [4:58] is still such a focus, and that President Trump may have to act soon. He's under a lot of domestic pressure. [5:05] Certainly the feeling from many Israelis is that this is not a job that has been completed as yet. What [5:11] Israelis have been saying consistently is that they want to deal with the threat from Iran in terms of [5:17] its missile arsenal, in terms of its support for proxies around the region, and of course in terms [5:24] of its nuclear program. And they do not feel that that has happened yet. Yilan Nell in Jerusalem, [5:29] thank you very much. Let's get a view then from the United States. We can speak to the national security [5:33] correspondent for the New York Times, Eric Schmidt. Eric, it's good to see you. What are you hearing [5:38] about the plans that are being presented to the president? Well, as your correspondent mentioned, [5:43] the military has presented plans to the president. These are actually plans that have been in place [5:48] for a while now. They're just kind of reminding them what's at stake here. The U.S. has two carrier [5:53] strike groups in the region. They've been adding additional weaponry, as your correspondent has [5:59] mentioned, in the event the president orders a resumption of strikes. But President Trump, [6:03] by all accounts that we've heard, is very reluctant to restart the war here. He's worried that the [6:09] Iranians still have thousands of missiles and drones left, that they could retaliate against [6:15] energy infrastructure in the region and send economic and oil prices even higher. He seems to [6:21] be leaning toward extending the naval blockade, but aides tell him that could take weeks or months to put [6:27] the kind of pressure on Iran's regime that would yield results. Because the open question, [6:32] obviously, Eric, is whether these further strikes would prize open what is already a difficult [6:37] negotiation. Exactly. And of course, the regime that's in power now is much more hard-line than [6:44] even the regime that existed under the Ayatollah, the supreme leader before the war started. [6:51] So by all accounts, they are digging in. They've used this three-week ceasefire time to dig out some of [6:56] their missile silos and to rearm themselves, move around some of their assets and prepare themselves [7:02] for what they think may be an oncoming resumption of attacks by the United States and Israel. [7:08] The president, quite obviously, is his own man, and nobody can really double-guess [7:12] which way he'll turn. But who is in his ear? Clearly, Prime Minister Netanyahu wants a resumption. [7:17] There are strategic reasons why Israel thinks they need to go further. What about the council around him [7:25] in the White House? Because Pete Hegseth, we know, is very confident. And then we have the vice [7:30] president, J.D. Vance, who has been leading the negotiation, who was opposed to this war. [7:36] There is a lot of nervousness now about the Senate. The mood is just very grim. [7:41] Apologies. Within the cabinet, you've identified the key actors. Vice President Vance has made it [7:48] known that he's very reluctant to continue this war. But the president has key options, [7:55] people listening to him. These are people like Senator Lindsey Graham, retired General Jack Keane, [8:00] who are urging him to restore the resumption of strikes. They say just two more weeks of [8:05] concerted strikes on Iran's infrastructure and other military targets will bring the regime to its [8:11] its knees and to the bargaining table.