The U.S. has approved $8.6 billion worth of arms for Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar and Israel -- sidestepping Congress by invoking emergency powers, according to notices published by the State Department.

The State Department notified Congress it was using its authorities for the sales, including $4 billion worth of Patriot missile interceptors for Qatar.

Since the outset of the war in Iran, the administration has used the authority for billions of dollars' worth of sales to the UAE, Israel and Kuwait.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the administration was "using the veneer of an emergency declaration to push through sales with no urgent nexus to current conflicts."

-ABC News' Chris Boccia

Iran’s armed forces say it is "likely" the U.S.-Israel war on the country will resume as "evidence shows the US is not committed to any agreements or treaties."

"The actions and statements of U.S. officials are primarily media-driven aimed first at preventing a drop in oil prices and second at extricating themselves from the mess they have created," Mohammad Jafar Asadi, deputy of the military headquarters, said in a statement carried by Iran’s Fars news agency.

"The armed forces are fully prepared for any new adventures or foolishness from the Americans."

-ABC News's Lama Hasan

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a warning to shippers on Friday that fulfilling any demand for an Iranian toll in exchange for passage through the Strait of Hormuz risks exposure to U.S. sanctions.

"OFAC is issuing this alert to warn U.S. and non-U.S. persons about the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or soliciting guarantees from, the Iranian regime for safe passage. These risks exist regardless of payment method," its alert said.

Demands to pay a toll could come in a variety of ways, including "fiat currency, digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments," such as charitable donations to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, the alert said.

The OFAC also reiterated that the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect.

The alert comes as shipping traffic through the critical shipping channel remains at a virtual standstill and the indefinite ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran drags on without a clear resolution to the war -- or a full reopening of the strait -- in sight.

-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr

President Donald Trump has sent letters alerting Congress that he "will continue to direct United States Armed Forces consistent with my responsibilities and pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct United States foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive."

Despite facing the 60-day deadline under the War Powers Act, the president is not asking Congress for authorization, rather providing an update to the posture of U.S. forces in the region.

Echoing Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth, the president noted that he ordered a two-week ceasefire on April 7 that has since been extended.

"On April 7, 2026, I ordered a 2-week ceasefire. The ceasefire has since been extended," Trump wrote. "There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated."

Trump also stressed that he ordered Operation Epic Fury "consistent with my responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests at home and abroad, and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests."

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