Trump tells US Congress hostilities in Iran 'have terminated'

President Donald Trump told top US lawmakers on Friday that hostilities in Iran had ended, after coming under pressure from Congress to seek authorization for the conflict as it headed into its third month.

"There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated," he wrote in letters to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate president pro tempore Chuck Grassley.

"Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever -- or do we want to try and make a deal?" he added, saying he would "prefer not" to take the first option "on a human basis."

The war, launched by the United States and 'Israel' with surprise strikes on February 28, has been on hold since April 8, with only one failed round of direct talks since.

Trump, under pressure at home to seek congressional authorization for the war, wrote to lawmakers Friday declaring hostilities "terminated", despite no change in the US military posture.

Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, choking off major flows of oil, gas and fertilizer, while the United States has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports.

Despite the stalemate, the ceasefire has held, but fighting has continued elsewhere in the region.