US President Donald Trump points as he delivers a speech during the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) annual fundraising dinner in Washington, DC, US, March 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

The US State Department’s top lawyer has argued that President Donald Trump’s war with Iran was launched in self-defense and to defend US ally Israel, arguing the bombing campaign was not the start of a new war but the continuation of an ongoing conflict.

State Department Legal Adviser Reed Rubinstein made the arguments in a statement released days before a May 1 deadline for the Trump administration to obtain approval for the war from Congress under the 1973 War Powers Act or move to end it.

The US and Israel began air strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, killing Iran‘s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and much of the country’s leadership in the initial attacks. Trump said at the time the strikes, which happened just days after inconclusive talks between US and Iranian negotiators, were aimed at destroying Iranian missiles and annihilating its navy and preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Trump also urged Iranians to overthrow their government.

Many legal experts say the attacks were unjustified under the United Nations Charter, which states that member states must refrain from using force or the threat of force against other states except when force is authorized by the UN Security Council or used in self-defense.

The U.S. was “engaged in this conflict at the request of and in the collective self-defense of its Israeli ally, as well as in the exercise of the United States’ own inherent right of self-defense,” Rubinstein said, citing what he called “Iran‘s malign aggression over decades” since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, including attacks by Iranian proxies on US forces and Israel, Iranian missile strikes against Israel in 2024, and Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“In truth, the United States is acting well within the recognized contours of international law relating to the use of force and self-defense,” he added.

Iran has long denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

The statement, entitled “Operation Epic Fury and International Law,” was posted on the State Department’s website on Tuesday but, unlike most of the department’s statements, it was not sent to the media or published on official social media channels.

Iran responded to the US and Israeli attacks by launching missiles and drones against US targets, its Middle East neighbors, and shipping, snarling the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway. The war, which has sparked an energy shock and concerns about wider economic fallout, has been paused since an April 8 ceasefire.

Opinion polls show the war is unpopular with Americans, who have seen the prices of fuel, food, and other products jump during the past eight weeks. Reuters/Ipsos poll results released on Friday showed a clear majority of Americans blame Trump for surging gasoline prices, which are weighing on his Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections in November.

Rubinstein concluded the campaign that began in late February was “part of an armed conflict with Iran that has been ongoing for years” and said it was unnecessary to assess whether an Iranian attack on the US or an ally was imminent.

“The US has acted well within its international law obligations with respect to its use of force since operations began in late February. Iran, by contrast, has acted as any reasonable observer would have expected – lashing out against its neighbors, targeting Israeli civilians, murdering its own people, unlawfully closing the Strait of Hormuz, and wreaking havoc throughout the region,” Rubinstein said.

Congressional aides said Rubinstein’s statement was issued by the Trump administration likely to get ahead of a May 1 deadline to ask Congress to authorize the war. The War Powers Act says the US president must end any ongoing conflict after 60 days until he obtains that authorization to continue. A president can obtain a 30-day extension if he certifies in writing, to Congress, that the continuing use of armed force is necessary.

Democrats, who are in the minority in both chambers of Congress, have tried repeatedly since the war began to pass resolutions ending the conflict until Trump obtains congressional approval, but almost all Republicans have voted to block them.

Spanish soldiers take part in Exercise Dynamic Mariner 25 military drill training, which involves naval forces from several NATO members, at Retin beach, in the Atlantic Ocean, in Barbate, Spain, March 28, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jon Nazca

An internal Pentagon email outlines options for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support US operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain from the alliance and reviewing the US position on Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands, a US official told Reuters.

The policy options are detailed in a note prepared by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon‘s top policy adviser, who expressed frustration at some allies’ perceived reluctance or refusal to grant the United States access, basing, and overflight rights – known as ABO – for the Iran war, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the email.

Colby wrote that ABO is “just the absolute baseline for NATO,” according to the official, who added that the options were circulating at high levels in the Pentagon.

One option in the email envisions suspending “difficult” countries from important or prestigious positions at NATO, the official said.

President Donald Trump has harshly criticized NATO allies for not sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed to global shipping ‌following the start of the air war on Feb. 28.

He has also declared he is considering withdrawing from the alliance.

“Wouldn’t you if you were me?” Trump asked Reuters in an April 1 interview, in response to a question about whether the US pulling out of NATO was a possibility.

But the email does not suggest that the United States do so, the official said. It also does not propose closing bases in Europe.

The official declined to say whether the options included a widely expected US drawdown of some forces from Europe, however.

Asked for comment on the email, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson responded: “As President Trump has said, despite everything that the United States has done for our NATO allies, they were not there for us.”

“The War Department will ensure that the president has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part. We have no further comment on any internal deliberations to that effect,” Wilson said.

Asked whether it is possible to suspend a NATO ally, a NATO official said that “NATO’s founding treaty does not foresee any provision for suspension of NATO membership.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SEES EUROPEAN ‘SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT’

The US-Israeli war with Iran has raised serious questions about the future of ​the 76-year-old bloc and provoked unprecedented concern that the US might not come to the aid of European allies should they be attacked, analysts and diplomats say.

Britain, France, and others say that joining the US naval ​blockade would amount to entering the war, but that they would be willing to help keep the strait open once there was a lasting ceasefire or the conflict ended.

But Trump administration officials have stressed that NATO cannot be a one-way street.

They have expressed frustration with Spain, where the Socialist leadership said it ​would not allow its bases or airspace to be used to attack Iran. The United States has two important military bases in Spain: Naval Station Rota and Morón Air Base.

The policy options outlined in the email would be intended to send a strong signal to NATO allies with the goal of “decreasing the sense of entitlement on the part of the Europeans,” the official said, summarizing the email.

The option to suspend Spain from the alliance would have a limited effect on US military operations but a significant symbolic impact, the email argues.

The official did not disclose how the United States might pursue suspending Spain from the alliance.

“We do not work off emails. We work off official documents and government positions, in this case of the United States,” Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez said when asked about the report ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders in Cyprus to discuss topics including NATO‘s mutual assistance clause.

POSITION ON FALKLAND ISLANDS COULD BE RECONSIDERED

The memo also includes an option to consider reassessing US diplomatic support for longstanding European “imperial possessions,” such as the Falkland Islands near Argentina.

The State Department’s website states that the islands are administered by the United Kingdom but are still claimed by Argentina, whose libertarian President Javier Milei is a Trump ally.

Milei was upbeat about the prospects.

“We are doing everything humanly possible so that the Argentine Malvinas, the islands, the entire territory return to the hands of Argentina,” Milei said in a radio interview he posted on his X account on Friday.

“We’re making progress like never before.”

Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 over the islands after Argentina made a failed bid to take them. Some 650 Argentine soldiers and 255 British troops died before Argentina surrendered.

A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the sovereignty of the islands rests with Britain.

“Sovereignty rests with the UK and the islands’ right to self-determination is paramount. It’s been our consistent position and will remain the case,” the spokesperson told reporters on Friday.

Trump has repeatedly insulted Starmer, calling him cowardly because of his unwillingness to join the US war with Iran, ​saying he was “No Winston Churchill” and describing Britain’s aircraft carriers as “toys.”

Britain initially did not grant a request from the US to allow its aircraft to attack Iran from two British bases, but later ​agreed to allow defensive missions aimed at protecting residents of the region, including British citizens, amid Iranian retaliation.

Addressing reporters at the Pentagon earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said “a lot has been laid bare” by the war with Iran, noting that Iran‘s longer-range missiles cannot hit the United States but can reach Europe.

“We get questions, or roadblocks, or hesitations … You don’t have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,” Hegseth said.

Army soldiers patrol a road as Pakistan prepares to host US and Iran for the second round of peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 24, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Waseem Khan

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was expected in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Friday to discuss proposals for restarting peace talks with the United States, but Pakistani sources said he was not due to meet US negotiators there.

Islamabad was the venue for talks between the US and Iran on ending their war that collapsed earlier this week.

Araqchi wrote on X that he was visiting Pakistan, Oman, and Russia to coordinate with partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments, adding that Iran’s neighbors remained Tehran’s priority.

The tour will include consultations on the latest efforts to end the war, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson later told state media.

Two Pakistani government sources aware of the discussions said Araqchi’s visit would be a brief one to discuss Iran’s proposals for talks with the US, which mediator Pakistan would then convey to Washington.

US President Donald Trump plans to send special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad soon for talks with Araqchi, a US official told Reuters, although it was not clear when that meeting would take place. Fox News reported the pair would leave the US on Saturday morning.

Speaking earlier, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a briefing that Iran had a chance to make a “good deal” with the United States.

“Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely … at the negotiating table. All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways,” he said.

Reports on Araqchi’s trip in Iranian state media and the Pakistani sources made no mention of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, who was the head of its delegation at the only talks held so far, earlier this month.

Pakistani sources had said earlier that a US logistics and security team was already in place in Islamabad for potential talks.

The last round of peace talks had been expected on Tuesday but never took place, with Iran saying it was not yet ready to commit to attending and a US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance never leaving Washington.

Trump unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday at the 11th hour to allow more time to reconvene the negotiators.

Oil prices were volatile as traders weighed potential disruption from the worst oil shock in history with the prospect for further talks.

Brent crude futures were up 53 cents, or 0.5%, at $105.60, and US West Texas Intermediate futures were down 56 cents, or around 0.6%, to $95.29.

HEZBOLLAH DISMISSES LEBANON CEASEFIRE EXTENSION

On Thursday, Israel and Lebanon extended a separate ceasefire for three weeks at a meeting at the White House brokered by Trump.

The war in Lebanon, which Israel invaded last month to root out Iran’s Hezbollah allies after the terrorist group fired across the border, has run in parallel with the wider Iran war, and Tehran says a ceasefire there is a precondition for talks.

There was little sign of an end to the fighting in the south of the country, however, as Lebanese authorities reported two people killed by an Israeli strike and Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone.

While the ceasefire that came into force on April 16 has led to a significant reduction in hostilities, Israel and Hezbollah have continued to trade blows in southern Lebanon, where Israel has kept soldiers in a self-declared “buffer zone.”

Responding to the extension, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said, “it is essential to point out that the ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel’s insistence on hostile acts, including assassinations, shelling, and gunfire” and its demolition of villages and towns in the south.

Israel’s military said it had killed six armed Hezbollah members in southern Lebanon on Friday.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ BLOCKADE

Trump said on Thursday he was in no rush to reach an agreement with Iran and wanted it to be “everlasting,” while asserting that the US had an upper hand in a standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy shipping route.

The United States has yet to find a way to open the strait, where Iran has blocked nearly all ships apart from its own since the start of the war eight weeks ago. Iran showed off its control this week by seizing two huge cargo vessels there.

Trump imposed a separate blockade of Iranian shipping last week, with US forces boarding several Iranian ships in international waters. Iran says it will not reopen the strait until Trump lifts his blockade.

“Our blockade is growing and going global,” Hegseth told reporters on Friday.

“No one sails from the Strait of Hormuz to anywhere in the world without the permission of the United States Navy,” he said.

Only five ships crossed the strait in the last 24 hours, shipping data showed on Friday, compared to around 130 a day before the war. Those included one Iranian oil products tanker, but none of the vast crude-carrying supertankers that normally feed global energy markets.

Container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd also said one of its ships had crossed, without giving details.

Though Trump has said that US forces have destroyed Iran’s naval threat, the use of a swarm of small, fast boats to seize the container ships has underscored Tehran’s evolving tactics in the strait as it counters US interception of Iran-linked oil tankers and other vessels.