US President Donald Trump has told congressional leaders that American forces launched fresh strikes against Iran on July 7, reopening a conflict the White House had earlier declared over.
In a letter dated July 10, Trump described the action as limited and notified Congress under the War Powers Resolution, the 1973 law requiring the president to inform lawmakers within 48 hours of committing troops to hostilities.
The notification restarted a 60-day window during which the president may deploy forces without congressional approval. Critics said the move stretched the statute well beyond its intended purpose.
The war began on February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel struck Iran and killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei. A memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 sought to end the fighting, though it unravelled amid repeated clashes in the Strait of Hormuz.
On July 13 the president said the United States would reinstate its naval blockade of Iranian ports from July 14 and act as the “guardian” of the strait.
Trump said other nations would be charged a 20 per cent levy on cargo passing through the waterway, describing the fee as reimbursement for providing security. Washington had until recently opposed any tolls on the route.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, called for the strait to stay open. “Freedom of navigation has to be respected,” she said.
Around a fifth of the world’s oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the war, and Brent crude climbed above $82 (€72) a barrel after the announcement. Rising fuel costs have added to inflation across the eurozone.
The United Nations’ International Maritime Organisation opposed the plan, saying there was no legal basis for mandatory tolls on ships transiting an international strait.
Iran rejected the move. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mocked the demand while insisting Tehran alone would safeguard the waterway.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted US bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait. Missile alerts sounded in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
For European governments already grappling with higher energy costs, the escalation underlined the bloc’s dependence on a waterway it does not control and its limited influence over a war being driven from Washington and Tehran.
