A new report has claimed that powerful computer virus known as Flame was developed by an joint initiative by Israel and the United States and was aimed at slowing down Iran's nuclear programme.

A report in the Washington Post said that the elaborate piece of malware was created with an aim to slowdown the Islamic republic's nuclear programme and it managed to collect sensitive information from the country. Researchers had earlier said that they have discovered a link between Stuxnet worm and the recently identified Flame malware, both active in the middle east region. Many believe that the Stuxnet was the work of Israeli intelligence.

The similarities indicate that both the teams collaborated to create the programmes. Security experts have begun analyzing new extensive, data-mining computer virus called, Flame. The researchers have found some clues point to its creators and they believe that Flame was written by a different group of programmers than others who have created other virus targeting users in the Middle East.

There are indications that Flame might be part of a campaign that spied on and sent back valuable information. The campaign was a huge set back to the country's nuclear program in 2010, when a large number of Iran's nuclear centrifuges were destroyed in a digital attack.