Iranian-American group sues Trump for 'unconstitutional' war on Iran

Submitted by Yasmine El-Sabawi on Thu, 09/24/2026 - 18:40 The National Iranian American Council says US citizens and their families have been harmed by a conflict that has no end in sight

US President Donald Trump attends a transfer of remains ceremony for US soldiers killed in the war on Iran at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on 22 July 2026 (Evan Vucci/Reuters) Off

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a civic engagement organisation based in Washington, DC, filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump on Thursday, asking a federal judge to declare the US war on Iran unconstitutional, given that Trump did not seek congressional authority and has no timeline to end it.

The complaint for declaratory relief was filed by prominent constitutional lawyers Alan Morrison and Bruce Fein in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

"We'll take it as far as we can, whether the court wants to hear us or not," Morrison told reporters assembled for the announcement at the National Press Club.

"Yes, the US Supreme Court has been reluctant to opine on the war power issue in 236 years... but I think this is really an unprecedented time, given the fact that both House and Senate voted against the war," he added.

"The dynamic [is] different [and] makes the court more likely to take this case."

When both chambers of Congress voted in favour of a War Powers resolution in June to rein in Trump's ability to continue attacks on Iran, the White House responded that "there are no present hostilities from which to remove US Armed Forces", because "the hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated with the ceasefire ordered by the President on April 7, 2026".

The ceasefire agreed in April, however, has barely held, with the US carrying out multi-day bombings across Iran's southern coast - including a strike on a wedding - earlier this month.

"Donald Trump, I think, has exposed the areas in our system in which we thought there were guardrails, but they're just gentlemen's agreements," Jamal Abdi, NIAC's president, told reporters on Thursday.

"It's a moment to not just end this catastrophe, but to set a precedent for the future, so that presidents can't take our country into a war without any authorisation, and I hope that others are also compelled to settle this question because it is a matter of life and death."

Constitutional questions

The US Constitution's "Declare War Clause", which NIAC accuses Trump of violating, maintains that only Congress has the power to declare war.

However, this has largely become a formality, given the US regularly carries out military operations - many of which include extrajudicial killings - in multiple sovereign countries at once. The 2001 Authorisation for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), which lawmakers approved soon after the 11 September 2001 attacks, opened the door to far-reaching military operations that may never see boots on the ground.

The executive branch has also historically had broad authority over foreign policy.

"The courts are the place to have a constitutional question answered," Fein said on Thursday.

"The president says he has the authority, and everybody else says he doesn't have the authority, and that's why we're in court to try to settle that question."

The Trump administration, in a messaging blitz led by Vice President JD Vance, has insisted in recent weeks that reporters avoid the term "war" and instead refer to occasional hostilities or skirmishes.

"If you've been bombing another country for seven months now, that's a war. If you oppose a blockade, that's a war. And when you're killing all these people and spending $43 billion, that's a war," Morrison said.

Family members injured and killed

NIAC's 16-page lawsuit, filed by its advocacy arm, NIAC Action, lists eight Iranian Americans who have been directly and adversely impacted by Trump's bombings.

Among them is Kowsar Gowhari, who attended Thursday's press conference and said she lost four family members in Iran, including a 70-year-old cousin and a two-month-old baby.

"I see it as an absolute responsibility not to allow the story of their loss to remain untold," she said. "America is my country, the country in which I'm living. I cannot remain indifferent to my responsibilities as a citizen of this country, which views itself as a beacon of freedom, democracy, and human values. I feel it's imperative to see this war end here and now," she said.

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Another member of NIAC named in the filing, Nima Dilmaghani, is said to have an injured cousin after the company warehouse where she worked was bombed. The relative suffered a broken leg, serious damage to her eardrums, and the loss of an index finger, which surgeons reattached but has lost motion, NIAC said.

Approximately ten of her coworkers were also killed.

An Iranian-American US Army veteran cited in the filing, Alan Band, said his family in northern Tehran have felt buildings and windows shake from nearby explosions and experienced repeated interruptions to water and electricity.

Parveen Esmaeilzadeh’s in-laws in Iran remain under threat of continued strikes as they experience severe PTSD and trauma, as well as economic hardship, the filing said.

Her mother-in-law's building now has cracks in its foundation, and her nieces and nephews haven't had any schooling since the 28 February start of the joint US-Israeli war.

"This lawsuit asks a fundamental question: can one person decide, on his own, to keep an entire nation at war?" Abdi said.

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