July 13 showed how far the terms of the US-Iran war have moved since fighting began in February, on three fronts at once: the legal basis for continuing it, the rhetoric justifying it, and the technology used to wage it.
The Trump administration formally notified Congress on July 10 that “military action” against Iran had resumed on July 7, according to a letter obtained by CBS News. The notification opens a new 60-day window before congressional authorization is legally required, per Roll Call. Democrats dispute that the clock can be restarted this way, arguing the war has continued uninterrupted since February 28, according to Roll Call.
That same day, the administration reversed itself on tolls. Trump announced a 20 percent charge on cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz, months after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he did not care whether such a charge was “called a fee or a toll or a donation,” it was a toll, and rejected the idea outright, according to CNN. Iran’s Foreign Ministry has separately called the use of the strait as economic pressure a form of piracy, per CNN, a framing that would apply just as easily to Washington’s own plan.
The same weekend brought a shift in method. Three Corsair unmanned surface vessels struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility at Bandar Abbas naval base, the first combat use of American sea drones, US Central Command said, according to USNI News. The strike echoes the uncrewed boat attacks Ukraine has used against Russia’s Black Sea fleet, extending that model to the Hormuz naval contest.
