JERUSALEM, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Israel has provided the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with substantial intelligence about Iran's nuclear program, local daily Ha'aretz reported Sunday.

    Citing diplomats in Jerusalem, the report said that the Jewish state has also provided the Brussels-based bloc with intelligence about the development of long-range missiles by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

    The information was delivered as part of an intelligence assessment that was prepared in connection with the possibility of deploying an American missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, said the diplomats.

    The intelligence was transferred by a team of experts from the Israel Defense Forces, who came to Brussels earlier to debrief their counterparts from NATO, said the diplomats, adding that the focus of the Israeli delegation was on Iranians' efforts to develop the Shihab-4 missile, with a strike range of 3,000 kilometers.

    Israel is currently extending its ties with NATO. Senior officials in Jerusalem and Brussels have said that bilateral military cooperation would be extended in the near future.

    The United States, Israel and their Western allies accuse Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons, but Iran insists that its nuclear program is only for generating electricity.

    Washington and Israel have consistently refused to rule out the possibility of military strikes against Iran over its refusal to halt its nuclear program.

    Earlier this year, speculations once flared up that Israel might carry out a military strike against Iran's nuclear sites.