Trump says he would consider bombing Iran again as US senate rejects resolution to limit his war powers
The US Senate has voted down a Democratic-led effort to restrict President Donald Trump's ability to take further military action against Iran, just hours after Mr Trump indicated he might order additional bombings.
The resolution, aimed at requiring congressional approval for any new hostilities, was defeated 53 to 47, largely along party lines.
Only one Democrat joined Republicans in opposition, while one Republican sided with Democrats in supporting the measure.
Senator Tim Kaine, chief sponsor of the resolution, has tried for years to wrest back Congress' authority to declare war from both Republican and Democratic presidents.
Kaine said his latest effort underscored that the US Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the sole power to declare war and requires that any hostility with Iran be explicitly authorised by a declaration of war or specific authorisation for the use of military force.
'If you think the president should have to come to Congress, whether you are for or against a war in Iran, you'll support Senate Joint Resolution 59, you'll support the Constitution that has stood the test of time,' Kaine said in a speech before Friday's vote.
Lawmakers have been pushing for more information about weekend US strikes on Iran, and the fate of Iran's stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.
Earlier on Friday, Mr Trump sharply criticised Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, dropped plans to lift sanctions on Iran, and said he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran is enriching uranium to worrisome levels.
'Sure, without question, absolutely,' the president said at a White House news conference.
He was reacting to Khamenei's first remarks after a 12-day conflict with Israel that ended when the United States launched bombing raids against Iranian nuclear sites.
Members of Trump's national security team held classified briefings on the strikes for the Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday and Friday. Many Democratic lawmakers left the briefings saying they had not been convinced that Iran's nuclear facilities had been 'obliterated,' as Mr Trump announced shortly after the raid.
Opponents of the resolution said the strike on Iran was a single, limited operation within Mr Trump's rights as commander-in-chief, not the start of sustained hostilities.
Senator Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican who served as ambassador to Japan during Mr Trump's first term, said the measure could prevent any president from acting quickly against a country that has been a long-term adversary.
'We must not shackle our president in the middle of a crisis when lives are on the line,' Hagerty said before the vote.
Mr Trump has rejected any suggestion that damage to Iran's nuclear program was not as profound as he has said. Iran says its nuclear research is for civilian energy production.
Under US law, Senate war powers resolutions are privileged, meaning that the chamber had to promptly consider and vote on the measure, which Kaine introduced this month.
But to be enacted, the resolution would have had to pass the Senate as well as the House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson, a close Trump ally, said this week he did not think it was the right time for such an effort.
During Mr Trump's first term, in 2020, Kaine introduced a similar resolution to rein in the Republican president's ability to wage war against Iran.
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