The Obama administration has secured enough support in the Senate to ensure that the Iran nuclear deal will survive a congressional vote, but John Kerry warned remaining waverers that rejection of the agreement would be a “self-destructive blow” to US credibility.

Kerry was speaking in Philadelphia less than an hour after Democrat Barbara Mikulski became the 34th senator to support the deal, ensuring a landmark victory for the Obama administration’s efforts to prevent it being derailed.

Mikulski’s support for the agreement means that Obama has enough votes in the Senate to uphold his veto if Congress rejects the July deal as expected. But the adminstration is still hoping to amass 41 votes, which would spare Obama from having to use his veto and spend political capital.

Kerry said: “It’s hard to conceive of a quicker or more self-destructive blow to our nation’s credibility and leadership” than a vote against the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The secretary of state sought to dispel what he described as myths about the July deal which he said had begun to circulate “even before the ink was dry”.

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