Russia reassures Israel over Iran nuclear deal

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that the deal on Iran's nuclear program would improve security in the Middle East and guaranteed that Tehran would not acquire nuclear arms. Israel plans to lobby the U.S. Congress not to approve the agreement clinched between Iran and world powers in Vienna earlier this month after more than a decade of negotiations. Under the deal, the United States, European Union and United Nations will lift sanctions against Iran in exchange for Tehran agreeing to long-term curbs on its nuclear program that the West and Israel have feared was aimed at creating a nuclear bomb. Putin told Netanyahu the deal included "solid guarantees that the Iranian nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful" and that implementing it would "positively impact the security and stability of the Middle East", according to a Kremlin statement. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska)