Fetterman votes again in favor of blocking U.S. Senate war powers resolution
Sen. John Fetterman has defected from the Democratic Party to block the War Powers Resolution that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to attack Iran.
The Trump administration has suspended U.S. strikes against Iran after nearly two weeks of military attacks on the Middle Eastern country.
The strike was suspended days after President Donald Trump defended the Iran war after four US soldiers were killed in last weekend’s conflict. “We want to end this and we want to do it right, but we have to do what we have to do,” Trump said. There have been no strikes since July 23rd.
Iranian and U.S. officials agreed to a ceasefire in June, but it was quickly broken and Iran continues to blockade the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump has vowed to take control of the strait, a global waterway critical to the world’s oil supplies.
In a Washington Post/Ipsos poll released earlier this month, more than two-thirds of Americans surveyed said they disapproved of President Trump’s handling of the Iran war. On July 23, the House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on the president to end the war by a vote of 214 to 208, with four Republicans siding with Democrats in rebuking President Trump. Senate Republicans then rejected a similar symbolic policy, and opportunity to defy the president.
The UN ambassador did not say whether the suspension would continue.
In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on July 26, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz declined to say whether the suspension of strikes would continue as Iranian and U.S. officials negotiate.
“As we’ve seen all along, what the president is doing now is opening up space for some talks,” Walz said. “Negotiations are ongoing. Negotiations are taking place at all levels, from the more technical aspects to, of course, the highest levels of both the Iranian and U.S. governments.”
Host Kristen Welker asked Walz whether the war would be over by the new year, as President Trump had said months ago that the conflict would end quickly. Walz pointed to decades of Iranian aggression against the United States and said he was “not going to put any time limit” on renewed questions about ending the war.
CNN, New York Times: Iran and Oman discuss Strait of Hormuz
CNN and the New York Times reported on July 26 that Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai said that officials from Iran and its Middle Eastern neighbor Oman had discussed the Strait of Hormuz.
Bagai said the talks were productive and officials said progress had been made on the key waterway, but he did not immediately provide details.
About 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas flows through the strait, and Iran has repeatedly used it as a base during the war. Earlier this month, the United States reinstated a naval blockade of Iranian ports, eliminating one element agreed to in an interim peace plan reached in June.
Contributor: Erin Mansfield, america today
