The delegation left for the United States last week "with the goal of proving to the Americans that the Iranian nuclear weapons programme is definitely still in development," the Maariv tabloid said, citing unnamed sources.

The team is arguing that although in 2003 the Iranians stopped a programme to build a nuclear bomb, they have "since launched a new production line that is not fully known about by Western espionage officials."

A recent consensus report of all 16 US spy agencies said Iran halted a nuclear weapons programme in 2003 and US allegations about Iran's atomic goals had been overblown for at least two years.

It added, however, that the Islamic republic could still have the capability to make a nuclear weapon by 2015.

The report dealt a blow to US and Israeli calls for the UN Security Council to impose a third set of sanctions on Iran over its failure to heed ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment.

Widely considered the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, Israel regards Iran as its main foe after repeated calls by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the Jewish state to be wiped off the map.

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