Trump Slams 'Unpatriotic' House Vote on Iran War Powers

Donald Trump has hit back at the US House of Representatives after it voted to formally rebuke him over the war in Iran, a move the US President has labelled "unpatriotic".

On Wednesday, the House passed a Democrat-led war powers resolution aimed at halting further US military action against Iran unless authorised by Congress.

The resolution passed 215 to 208, with four Republicans crossing the floor to join the Democrats.

In a social media post on Thursday, Mr Trump criticised the vote:

"Yesterday, in a meaningless vote, the House voted, 4 bad Republicans and all of the Dumocrats [sic], to limit my War Powers, right in the middle of my final negotiations to end the War with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Who would do such an unpatriotic thing."

The vote came as diplomats sought to build momentum towards a broader agreement to end the conflict between the US and Iran.

A new US-mediated ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon raised hopes for progress, though there was still uncertainty about how and when it would be implemented.

Tehran has made a ceasefire in Lebanon a condition for any peace deal with Washington.

It also suggested in recent days that it could intervene directly in support of its Lebanese militant ally, Hezbollah, if Israeli attacks continue or intensify.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the latest ceasefire would come into force within 24 hours of all concerned parties approving it, appearing to refer to Hezbollah, which is not directly part of the agreement.

However, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said on Thursday that northern Israel would not be safe as long as Lebanese villages continued to be bombed and civilians killed.

Further clouding the outlook for the truce, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military would continue to strike in Lebanon for now and would not withdraw from southern parts of the country.

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards's Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, said Israel's withdrawal to positions held before the war began was the minimum acceptable outcome, according to Iranian state media.

Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, after the group launched attacks in support of Iran as it came under US-Israeli attack. The war has continued despite several ceasefires declared by Washington since April.

Flare-up in Gulf

While negotiators focused on the Lebanon ceasefire, fighting continued elsewhere in the region.

Iranian and US forces exchanged attacks in the Gulf on Wednesday in one of the most intense bouts of fighting since a separate ceasefire halted large-scale US-Israeli bombing of Iran in early April.

Iranian forces struck Kuwait, damaging its airport and injuring dozens of people, authorities said, while the US military carried out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz.

The strategic waterway, through which about one-fifth of the global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass, remains largely closed after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran.

Oil prices eased on Thursday after sharp gains the previous day, as investors hoped the Lebanon ceasefire could help create diplomatic pathway out of the conflict between the US and Iran.

Mr Trump, who is under pressure to bring down fuel prices, had earlier suggested there could be progress in negotiations with Iran as early as this weekend.

"If it happens, it could happen over the weekend," Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, without elaborating.

He said negotiators were working to separate discussions about reopening the strait from the negotiations over the conflict in Lebanon.

Iran denies targeting Kuwait airport

The attacks on Kuwait quickly became the subject of competing claims from Washington and Tehran.

Wednesday's strikes damaged airport facilities and diplomatic missions, killing one person and injuring more than 60 others, Kuwaiti authorities and state media said.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said they did not fire at Kuwait's airport and blamed the destruction on US interceptor missiles that failed to hit their targets, according to Iranian state media.

The US military said Iranian drones targeted the airport deliberately.

Iranian media reported the Revolutionary Guards also attacked the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and a US air base.

US Central Command denied its bases had been hit and said Iranian ballistic missiles failed to strike their targets in the region.

Central Command said it had carried out a new round of "defensive strikes" in southern Iran, targeted missile launch sites and Iranian boats seeking to lay mines, and conducted strikes on Qeshm Island near the strait after attempted Iranian attacks.

Iran sets conditions for peace

Despite the continued fighting, both Washington and Tehran have continued to signal interest in a negotiated settlement.

Last week, Iran and the US signalled progress towards a tentative initial agreement to halt the war and reopen the strait, but the two sides have yet to sign off on the deal, which would leave more complex negotiations for later.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday that Iran's enemies had already been defeated on the battlefield and were now seeking to sow internal divisions.

"In order to confront these plans, everyone must be patient, clear-minded, maintain unity, harmony, mutual trust, and not be in agreement with the enemy," he said in a message read on his behalf during ceremonies marking the anniversary of the death of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ruhollah Khomeini.

Mr Khamenei has not been seen in public since he succeeded his father, who was killed in an air strike at the start of the war.

In addition to Tehran conditioning a deal on an end to fighting in Lebanon, it also wants access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, waivers on sanctions on crude exports, a lifting of a US blockade on its ports and leverage over the strait.

Mr Trump has said his top priority is to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.