United News of Bangladesh

US President Donald Trump announced the launch of what he called “major combat operations” against Iran, raising renewed debate in Washington over whether the White House needed approval from Congress before carrying out the attacks. The United States, acting alongside Israel, began large-scale air operations early Saturday under an operation named “Epic Fury”, while Israel has referred to its campaign as “Lion’s Roar”. The strikes came two days after US-Iran talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme ended without agreement and were followed by Iranian retaliatory attacks across the Middle East. Under the US Constitution, Congress holds the power to formally declare war, but it has not done so in this case. At the same time, constitutional provisions grant the president broad authority to order military action, creating a long-standing grey area that has repeatedly fuelled political and legal debate. Reactions on Capitol Hill have largely split along party lines. Republicans, who currently control both chambers of Congress, have mostly backed the strikes. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the administration had briefed the so-called “Gang of Eight”, a bipartisan group of senior congressional leaders, ahead of the operation. Democrats, however, criticised the decision, accusing Trump of launching a war without congressional authorisation. They renewed calls for a war powers resolution that could restrict the president’s ability to use force without explicit approval from Congress, although such a measure is seen as unlikely to pass given limited Republican support. According to US Central Command, three US service members have been killed in action and five seriously injured during the conflict. Iranian authorities say more than 200 people have been killed and over 700 wounded in air strikes across Iran, including at least 165 people, many of them children, in an explosion at a school in the south of the country. Iranian missiles have also struck Israel, killing at least nine people in the central town of Beit Shemesh and causing casualties in Tel Aviv, Israeli media reported. Iran has also targeted US-linked facilities and allies in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, where casualties were reported at airports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Trump has defended the strikes by accusing Tehran of pursuing nuclear weapons, developing long-range missiles and orchestrating attacks through regional proxies. He has also cited past incidents, including the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran and the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut, as justification for military action. The conflict has already claimed senior Iranian leaders. Trump announced that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes, a claim later confirmed by Iranian state media, which declared 40 days of mourning. Trump has said dozens of senior Iranian figures were eliminated in the operation. US officials have said there are no plans to deploy ground troops in Iran. Instead, the campaign is expected to rely on sustained air and naval operations. The US currently has tens of thousands of troops stationed across the Middle East and has deployed two aircraft carriers to the region. While Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, international concern remains high. US and Israeli officials say the operation is aimed at eliminating what they describe as an urgent threat, as lawmakers in Washington continue to debate the limits of presidential war powers and the role of Congress in authorising military action.   With inputs from BBC