"We are working with Iran in order to develop the atom for peaceful ends and we are against any programme seeking to endow Iran with an atomic weapon," Putin told a news conference after talks with his Israeli counterpart Moshe Katsav.

Russia has helped to develop Iran's civilian nuclear programme, which Israel, the United States and the European Union fear could mask a secret military agenda.

Russia is "categorically against any attempt by Iran to get nuclear weapons," Putin added.

Unlike the open disagreement between the two presidents over Moscow's planned sale of anti-aircraft missiles to Damascus, Katsav appeared to suggest that the policy gap between the two powers over Iran was narrowing.

"I feel there is some forward movement," he said, referring to the two leaders' discussions on Iran.

Israel is widely considered to be the sole, if undeclared, nuclear force in the Middle East.

But with Putin on the first visit to Israel on a mission to improve ties with the Jewish state, Washington announced that it plans to sell Israel 100 of its most effective bombs designed to destroy deep underground facilities.

"The general suspicion would be that Iran would likely be on the receiving end of that weapon," Francois Boo, an analyst from the military affairs think tank GlobalSecurity.org, told AFP.

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