WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Thursday cleared the way for approval of the Iran nuclear deal, but Republicans in the House said they weren’t giving up their attempts to derail it.

A resolution to disapprove the agreement failed to clear a key procedural hurdle in the Senate with a 58-42 vote — falling two votes shy of the 60 votes needed to force a veto by President Obama.

“The Senate has spoken with a clarion voice and declared the historic agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon will stand,” declared Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)

Congress has until Sept. 17 to scuttle the deal and House Speaker John Boehner insisted the GOP efforts are “just beginning.”

The GOP-led House passed a measure Thursday evening 245-186 saying Obama illegally withheld side-deal agreements from Congress on international inspections.

Boehner raised the stakes by saying he might link the Iran deal to a must-pass budget bill and a lawsuit against Obama to stop the deal’s implementation is “very possible.”