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The U.S. Senate, largely controlled by Republican senators, approved a measure requiring President Donald Trump to end the war in Iran or seek congressional approval before taking further military action. A number of Republican members joined Democrats in a vote of 50 to 48 yesterday (June 23) on a measure that had already been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month. However, such resolutions are often merely symbolic, because even if they pass both houses of Congress, they are never sent to Trump for consideration and have no legal effect. This comes after Republican members of Congress expressed skepticism about Trump’s peace plan with Iran, and as the largely unsupported conflict nears its fifth month.
This vote marks the first time both houses of the U.S. Congress have jointly approved a resolution ordering the president to cease military operations since the 1973 War Powers Resolution came into effect. A joint resolution reflects the feelings or will of Congress, unlike other types of legislation that require the president’s signature into law. Furthermore, in 2019, Trump opposed a joint resolution calling for the withdrawal of troops from the Yemeni civil war. Laura Blumenfeld, a Middle East analyst, called the decision “more of a slap on the wrist than handcuffs, because it has no legal binding effect.” The passage of this joint resolution is significant because it increases pressure on the White House to find a way to end the war in Iran, a conflict that is unpopular with the public due to soaring fuel prices. A similar measure was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month, with four Republican members joining all Democratic members in a vote of 215 to 208.
However, a White House official told the BBC that because a ceasefire was reached on April 7, there was no fighting that would require the withdrawal of American troops. The official also stated that the measure passed because two Republican senators, Mitch McConnell and Dave McCormick, were absent from the meeting. The four Republican senators who voted in favor of the resolution along with the Democrats were Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Bill Cassidy. Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat, was the only member of his party to vote against the resolution.
This is seen as the latest sign of divisions within Trump’s Republican party ahead of the midterm elections in November, which will determine whether the party can retain its modest majority in both houses of Congress. Some Republican members have thwarted the president in the past, including rejecting a plan to create a $1.8 billion “counter-arms” fund and approving aid to Ukraine. Tuesday’s vote marked the tenth time that Democratic senators have attempted to push a resolution on the power to wage war since the Middle East conflict began. The vote took place on the same day that the Pentagon, or the U.S. Department of Defense, requested approximately $80 billion (about 2.6 trillion baht) in funding from Congress, much of which would be used to finance a war with Iran.
Federal law requires congressional approval for military operations to continue for more than 60 days. The US-Israeli strike against Iran began on February 28, although the Trump administration argued that the April ceasefire initiated a new timeframe. Furthermore, the White House could extend the deadline by another 30 days, citing national security reasons. Currently, the United States and Iran have agreed to continue the ceasefire and are working to end the fighting under the memorandum of understanding signed by the presidents of both countries last week. Under the memorandum of understanding, U.S. and Iranian authorities have 60 days to negotiate a more comprehensive agreement on ending Iran’s nuclear program.
The United Nations is preparing to evacuate the crew members stranded in the Strait of Hormuz simultaneously.
Another development currently underway is that the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO) is preparing to evacuate over 11,000 crew members stranded in the Persian Gulf due to the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran. Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, said this “large-scale operation” will be carried out in cooperation with Iran, Oman, the United States, other coastal states in the region, and the shipping industry. “We have obtained the necessary safety assurances and have thoroughly checked all the conditions for safe navigation to support these operations,” he said.
However, the United States and Iran remain at odds over the details of the memorandum of understanding signed last week. The United States said the memorandum of understanding included a guarantee that Iran’s nuclear weapons program would be subject to oversight by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). President Donald Trump posted on social media on Tuesday that “Iran has fully and completely agreed to continue to undergo the highest level of nuclear testing in the future (forever!!!). This will guarantee ‘nuclear integrity’.”
Shortly before Trump’s post, Iran said that UN inspectors would be unable to verify the nuclear site that the US and Israel bombed last year. U.S. officials responded, “The Iranians have agreed to undergo rigorous scrutiny by the IAEA on the remainder of their nuclear weapons program. The Iranian government will say what it needs to say to its domestic audience.”
The evacuation of the stranded crew depends on the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization said the rescue agreement for these crew members is “a significant step in restoring maritime security and ending unacceptable attacks on civilian vessels.” He said, “After months of hardship and suffering for thousands of innocent crew members, and negative repercussions worldwide, I am extremely pleased with the peace agreement concluded between the United States and Iran.” According to the International Maritime Organization’s evacuation plan, two temporary routes through the strait may be used, with each vessel being contacted for further advice, as per the Omani notice for seafarers prepared by the Organization.
The International Maritime Organization also stated that it will release daily reports on the number of ships safely leaving the region. To date, at least 172 ships have passed through the newly reopened Strait of Hormuz, including 42 on Saturday alone, according to new data from the maritime intelligence company Kpler. However, the number of ships passing through the strait since June 18, when the agreement was signed, remains below the pre-conflict average of about 138 ships per day. Ship tracking data analyzed by BBC Verified shows that more than 200 oil tankers appeared to be waiting inside the strait on Tuesday.
Read more at: https://www.bbc.com/thai/articles/cn07rr560gdo