Iran live updates: White House in 'active conversations' with Congress about authorizing war

The Trump administration is seeking the participation of other countries to form an international coalition to help re-open the Strait of Hormuz.

Dubbed the "Maritime Freedom Construct," the coalition would help with coordinating diplomatic efforts, including aligning on sanctions and information sharing to help with safe transit through the waterway, according to a U.S. official.

A cable sent this week by the State Department to posts around the world called on diplomats to announce the formation of the new coalition and "ask for partner participation" by Friday.

"The MFC’s efforts will enhance maritime domain awareness and support the safe passage of commercial operators and their crews," a State Department official said.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the cable.

Notably, the United Kingdom and France have already launched a multilateral effort involving at least 30 nations toward securing the strait that could eventually involve deploying military assets if a peace deal is reached. During a Pentagon press briefing last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed the U.K. and French effort as “silly."

-ABC News’ Mariam Khan

The Trump administration is in “active conversations” with lawmakers about requesting Congressional authorization for the war in Iran, according to a White House official.

Friday will mark the 60-day statutory deadline to conclude the conflict, according to the War Powers Resolution of 1973.

After the U.S. and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, President Donald Trump on March 2 formally submitted to Congress a war powers notification against the Iranian regime. Congress has not yet voted to authorize the war.

Most Democratic members of Congress and several Republicans have long objected to Trump’s military action in Iran, stating the administration has not been forthcoming with lawmakers or the American public about their objectives. These leaders have also tried to curtail the military action by forcing several War Powers Resolution debates and votes.

-ABC News’ Isabella Murray

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate committee at a hearing Thursday that the U.S.’s "military objectives have been stunningly effective."

"Take, for example, [Iran’s] defense industrial base," Hegseth said. "They are completely incapable, at scale, at any level of reconstituting the capabilities you referred to, which is a devastating result for any country, especially one whose ambitions are as wide as Iran's."

"So we've put the president in a very strong position to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon," Hegseth continued. "That's the takeaway that's been underneath every single aspect of this."

-ABC News’ Chris Boccia and Luis Martinez

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei released a new statement on Thursday to mark National Persian Gulf Day, in which he said the future of the Persian Gulf will be one "without America," per a reading of the statement by Iranian state media.

Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the start of the war, was elected to replace his slain father -- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- as supreme leader in March.

In his statement, Khamenei said Iran "will guard" its nuclear and missile technologies despite external pressure from the U.S. and Israel. Tehran will also "secure the Persian Gulf region and eliminate the hostile enemy's misuse of this waterway," Khamenei said.

The supreme leader continued, "We share a 'co-destiny' with our neighbors in the vast expanse of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of ​​Oman, and the foreigners who greedily commit evil in it from thousands of kilometers away have no place in it except in the depths of its waters."

-ABC News' Maryam Moqaddam and Joe Simonetti