WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate on Wednesday failed to advance a war powers resolution aimed at curbing U.S. President Donald Trump's military operations against Iran, as Democrats and Republicans remain sharply divided over the issue.

By a 53-47 vote, the Republican-led upper chamber blocked the resolution, which is intended to prevent Trump from ordering further military strikes on Iran without congressional approval.

In floor speeches before the vote, Democrats largely lashed out at the military strikes against Iran while Republicans predominately defended the president.

Veteran Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who co-sponsored the measure, said that "the administration and their shifting set of rationales, and even in a classified setting, could produce no evidence, none, that the U.S. was under an imminent threat of attack from Iran."

"Have we learned nothing from 25 years of war in the Middle East? 14,000 American troops and contractors killed in Iran and Afghanistan ... hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths ... in Iran and Afghanistan, more than 8 trillion spent that could have been spent on American health care, on American housing, on American education, spent on the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. And what did we get for it?" said Kaine.

Democratic Senator Patty Murray, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said "we should not gamble American lives on incomplete plans, unclear objectives and completely uncertain future."

Republicans argued that Trump's actions in Iran were necessary and justified, accusing Democrats of objecting to Trump's actions for partisan reasons. ■