I cannot believe the power of the United States President, a US President can initiate military action without the express authorisation of the Congress. However, the President must inform Congress within 48 hours once the military action has started.

So US President Trump, the guy who campaigned on no new wars initiated a second military conflict with Iran after the relative success of Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025. When I say relative success, the operation was well planned and executed as one would expect with the US Air Force. However, the bunker bombing clearly did not obliterate the Iranian nuclear program as Donald Trump claimed, as the US needed to go into Iran again in January 2026 for Operation Epic Fury as Trump claimed Iran was weeks away from launching an attack on the United States.

So now we have Operation Epic Fury started on February 28, the military action hit the Iranian regime pretty hard, the US expended a large inventory of precision weapons. Based on the 1973 War Powers Act, the US President has 60 days to initiate military action before Congressional approval is required. If Congressional approval is declined, the President has a further 30 day withdrawal period. President Trump expected a swift capitulation of the Iranian regime, especially after the loss of leadership. Instead, it appears to have hardened the stance has allowed the new leadership has dug in.

So how did we get here? Well, Donald Trump was full of positivity after the lightning raid on Venezuela and the capture, or kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro in early January 2026. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu successfully convinced Trump to engage in a surprise attack on Iran where they took out the Iranian leadership in a precision bombing action. The US and Israeli precision bombing, with the exception of the girl’s school, has been a military success. The war with Iran, it is a war, has been a military success and a strategic failure.

Well, that was until Iran decided to close the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian Navy is gone, yes they have small fast boats, but all their ships are gone. So how did the Iranian regime close the Strait of Hormuz? Well, we all know there is a bottleneck between Iran and Oman, there are narrow lanes, plus a buffer zone for the large oil tankers to transit. The Iranian military is not directly attacking ships in the gulf, instead the threat of action has spooked insurers who have clearly acted with extreme caution.

The Iran’s Revolutionary Guard [IRGC] has threatened to attack any ship trying to navigate the strait without permission. Therefore, the major shipping companies including Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and CMA CMG have suspended transit through the strait over genuine concerns for their ships and crew. The threat to mine the strait right at the chokepoint has pretty much stopped the transit of vessels. The Iranian regime opened the strait allowing transit to be rerouted past the island of Larak, that is close to the Iranian shore allowing Iranian forces to have a real close look at any vessel trying to transit the region. So what happens at the 60 day requirement, I reckon the Trump Administration will just ignore the requirement, congress is unlikely to hold Trump accountable and the Republican Party certainly will not do anything.