Washington: Overcoming ferocious opposition, President Barack Obama secured a legacy-defining foreign policy victory Wednesday as Senate Democrats clinched the necessary votes to ensure the Iran nuclear agreement survives in Congress.

The decisive 34th commitment came from Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski, who is retiring next year after three decades in the Senate.

In a statement she said "no deal is perfect, especially one negotiated with the Iranian regime."

But she called the pact "the best option available to block Iran from having a nuclear bomb."