JERUSALEM — The U.S. intelligence community was said to have drafted an assessment that cited an intensive Iranian nuclear weapons program.

Officials said the U.S. intelligence community has completed a National Intelligence Estimate on Iran that was presented to the White House. They said the study confirmed Israeli assessments that Iran was making significant progress toward its first nuclear bomb.

“This is being passed around the offices of senior officials,” Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said.

Barak, regarded as the Israeli minister closest to Washington, said the NIE largely reflected that of the Israeli intelligence community. The minister said both countries have concluded that Iran’s nuclear program marked an urgent threat.

“We are facing tough decisions,” Barak told Israel state radio on Aug. 9. Earlier, Israel’s Haaretz daily reported that the NIE represented a consensus by Israel and four NATO states on Iran’s nuclear program.

The newspaper said Britain, France, Germany, Israel and the United States agreed that Iran progressed in the nuclear program much faster than had been assessed.

Israel had long been following the latest NIE, overseen by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The study was said to have been revised in July to include the latest intelligence on Iran’s nuclear weapons developments. (Copyright © 2012 East West Services, Inc. 08/10/12)