More than two dozen top US scientists, among them nuclear researchers and Nobel prize winners, praised the Iran nuclear deal as a major security achievement in a letter to US President Barack Obama.
The two-page letter, from some of the world's most knowledgeable nuclear experts, could prove to be a shot in the arm for Obama, who has launched a major effort to sell the deal to skeptical members of the US Congress.
The letter tells the US president that the deal "will advance the cause of peace and security in the Middle East and can serve as a guidepost for future nonproliferation agreements," AFP reported citing a New York Times article.
Tehran denies its nuclear program may have any military aspects, saying the work is entirely peaceful.
There were 29 signatories of the letter in all, some of whom are physicists who have held top level military security clearances. Others have advised Congress, the White House or federal agencies, on military security.
Among those who signed the letter are Leon Cooper of Brown University, Sheldon Glashow of Boston University, David Gross of the University of California, Santa Barbara and Burton Richter of Stanford and Frank Wilczek of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- all Nobel laureates.
The P5+1 -- Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the United States -- signed an agreement last month with Iran aimed at limiting Tehran's nuclear activities for specified durations in return for relief from sanctions.
