Tuesday’s White House briefing contained the most consequential legal statement of the entire Iran war: the combat operation launched on February 28 is over. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it clearly and without equivocation. The implications — legal, diplomatic, and military — are enormous and are not being fully reported in real time.
What Rubio Said
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke at a White House press briefing Tuesday and said that the combat operation launched in February against Iran has ended. “The operation is over,” Rubio said. “Epic Fury is, the president notified Congress, we’re done with that stage of it.”
Rubio deemed US military action in Iran during the ceasefire a “defensive operation,” as the naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz continues and the US said Monday it shot down multiple Iranian boats. He also defended US efforts to economically pressure Iran through sanctions and a maritime blockade, arguing the measures are necessary to protect global commerce and civilian shipping.
“Done with that stage” is the critical phrase. Not “the war is over.” Not “we’ve stopped.” But the operation — the named, codified military mission with a Congressional notification and a 60-day War Powers clock — is declared finished. The clock, therefore, has stopped. The president no longer needs Congressional authorisation for what happens next, because what happens next is defined as something other than Operation Epic Fury.
The Legal Architecture
The Trump administration has cited the April 8 ceasefire in asserting that the president does not have to give a formal update to Congress on the war under the War Powers Resolution. That law typically requires presidents to seek formal approval from Congress for war activities 60 days after beginning military action.
By declaring Epic Fury over, Rubio is telling Congress: the named military operation you were notified about on March 2 has concluded. Everything happening now — Project Freedom, the naval blockade, the defensive engagements in the strait — is a new and different set of activities that does not restart the War Powers clock.
This is legally contested — Democratic senators and some Republicans immediately pushed back — but it is the administration’s formal position and it will govern US military activities unless Congress forces a confrontation.
What Is Actually Happening in the Strait
The US military said that on Monday Iran’s forces attacked US Navy and commercial ships with cruise missiles, and launched drones and small boats at the vessels under US escort, but that no American ships were struck.
Trump said the US destroyed eight Iranian boats. Two US-flagged merchant vessels made it through the strait on Monday, with shipping giant Maersk confirming that one of its vehicle carriers was escorted out “under US military protection.”
In Tuesday’s briefing, Hegseth said that hundreds of ships from nations around the world were now lining up to transit the strait and that the US ceasefire was not over. “No, the ceasefire is not over,” Hegseth said.
The operational picture: two ships got through. Eight Iranian boats were destroyed. The UAE was struck again Tuesday. The ceasefire, in both sides’ telling, is “not over.” Iran’s parliament speaker warned Iran “has not even begun yet” in the standoff. And hundreds of ships are reportedly lining up to attempt transit.
What Iran Thinks of This Framing
Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, signalled that Iran has yet to fully respond to the US attempt to reopen the waterway. “We know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet,” he said.
“We have not even begun yet.” That phrase — from Iran’s chief negotiator, published on X — is simultaneously a military threat and a negotiating signal. It says: the IRGC still has capabilities it has not deployed. It also says: we know you’re under pressure, and we intend to exploit it. The gap between “Epic Fury is over” and “we haven’t begun” is where the war now lives.
