Diplomat Dr Robert Joseph who played a key role in ending Libya’s weapons of mass destruction program said Tehran was not to be trusted and had repeatedly hoodwinked investigators and the international community over its nuclear ambitions and secret sites.

After tense mini-talks between the US and Iran last weekend, which seem to have amounted to little more than a brief chat in a hotel lobby, Dr Joseph said Donald Trump was right to demand Iran give up every scrap of fissile material and back up his demands with bombing threats, because Ayatollah Khamenei was not only lying to the world but Iran’s nuclear program was highly advanced.

He said: “Iran today is a virtual nuclear weapon state. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency Iran has more than enough enriched uranium (at 60 percent) that can be further enriched to weapons-grade in likely less than one week.

“It can have enough weapons-grade fissile material for additional weapons soon thereafter, measured in days not weeks. We also know that Iran as early as 2003 was working on a nuclear warhead for missile delivery.

“As for a dirty bomb, Iran has an abundance of radioactive material that can be used to fashion a weapon. This could be done in hours, not days.”

A dirty bomb uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material over a town or city rendering it uninhabitable.

Earlier this year the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) released intelligence showing the Iranian regime was covertly developing nuclear warheads for solid fuel missiles with a range in excess of 3000 km - enough to hit Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

The Ghaem-100 missile, with a mobile launchpad that enhances its military capability, was copied from North Korean missiles and was designed from the very beginning to carry a nuclear warhead.

Missiles and nuclear warheads are being developed at the Shahrud and Semnan sites. Tehran claims the sites are just part of Iran’s space initiative, ostensibly aimed at launching communication satellites.

The NCRI reports, compiled from dozens of sources and thoroughly validated, indicate that in recent months the regime’s nuclear weaponisation entity, the Organization for Advanced Defense Research (SPND) has intensified its efforts to construct nuclear warheads at both the Shahrud and Semnan sites.

Dr Joseph said: “The regime believes nuclear weapons are important to ensure the survival of the regime, especially in the context of deterring outside powers from supporting the Iranian people in their quest to overthrow the religious dictatorship.

“There are other motives at play as well, including - in the eyes of the mullahs - having Iran be the regional superpower capable of coercing its neighbours.

“The regime has demonstrated over and over that it cannot be trusted, having violated every commitment it has made in the past.”

President Trump has announced unequivocally that Iran must not be allowed a nuclear weapon. Dr Joseph goes further, saying Tehran cannot be allowed any uranium enrichment at all.

He said: “Any agreement, to be meaningful, would need to ban all enrichment. Intrusive verification and monitoring would be required.

“That is the only way to achieve the objective that President Trump has laid out: that Iran will not be permitted to have a nuclear weapon.”

He was also highly sceptical that the current dictatorial theocratic regime, led by Ayatollah Khamenei could ever be change enough to join the international community.

The NCRI is pushing to take down the regime and replace it with a democratic government with a free vote, gender equality, and no nuclear program.

Dr Joseph said: “Iran is the principal terrorist-sponsoring state. It is a repressive regime at home that stays in power through the brutal oppression of the people.

“Internationally the regime is a pariah that can not and will not change for the betterment of the Iranian people.”

Dr Joseph was a special assistant to President George W. Bush when he led secret negotiations with Libya. He later served as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.

Dr Joseph is known for being instrumental in creating the Proliferation Security Initiative and as the architect of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. He was also the US chief negotiator to Libya in 2003 who convinced the Libyans to give up their WMD programs.