"One or two years from now at the latest, Iran will have the fissionable material to make a nuclear bomb. From then on, producing the bomb is just a straightforward technical process," Dagan said, according to Israeli public radio.

"In the coming months, without any hindrance, Iran will be independent in terms of nuclear technological material," he added.

Dagan was speaking during an annual presentation to Israel's parliamentary defence and foreign affairs committee.

Israeli politicians and military commanders have recently stepped up warnings about Iran, which the Jewish state and the United States accuse of trying to develop a nuclear arsenal. Iran denies the charge.

Israeli fears were heightened when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in October called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map."

Israel itself is believed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, although it has never admitted to having a non-conventional arsenal.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.