Trump Declares No Deadline for Iran Deal as 60-Day War Powers Clock Expires Without Congressional Authorization

Analysis
The 60-day War Powers clock expired without congressional authorization; the May 1 claim that hostilities were terminated, per a single Washington Times report, failed to arrest it, leaving Operation Epic Fury unsanctioned and stripping the administration's primary legal backstop. Tehran's routing of its response through Pakistani mediators while Araghchi separately met Wang Yi signals pressure diffusion, not urgency. The 14-point framework sustains Iran's diplomatic process without requiring concession, and Trump's deadline removal surrenders coercive timeline pressure while generating rhetoric Tehran can exploit to justify continued resistance. There is almost no chance a deal closes while these conditions hold. The escalation threats may instead be a structured good-cop/bad-cop construct designed to give Iranian moderates domestic cover to accept terms without appearing to capitulate.