The United States is investigating a leak of top-secret U.S. information about Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran, according to three people familiar with the matter. One of the insiders confirmed the authenticity of the documents.
According to the Israeli journalist, senior US officials expressed great concern over the leak of two US intelligence documents on Israeli preparations for an attack on Iran, which were published on the Middle East Spectator Telegram account. The US Department of Defense and the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the leaked documents, but did not deny their authenticity.
The timing of the leak comes as Israel finalizes preparations to retaliate against Iran in response to the October 1 missile attack. An Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted: “Israel is aware of the leak and takes it very seriously.”
The documents, dated October 15 and 16, began circulating online on Friday after being posted on Telegram by an account called “Middle East Spectator.”
They are classified as top secret and have markings indicating that they are meant to be seen only by the US and its ‘Five Eyes’ allies – Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK.
They describe the preparations Israel appears to be making for a strike against Iran. One of the documents, which it says was compiled by the National Geospatial Intelligence Service, says the plans include moving munitions from Israel.
Another document says it comes from the National Security Agency and describes Israeli air force exercises involving air-to-surface missiles, also believed to be preparing a strike on Iran.
A US official says the investigation is looking into who had access to the alleged Pentagon document. Any such leak would automatically trigger an FBI investigation alongside the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies. The FBI declined to comment.
A US official says the investigation is looking into who had access to the alleged Pentagon document. Any such leak would automatically trigger an FBI investigation alongside the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies. The FBI declined to comment.
Another US official stated that “these two documents are bad, but not horrible. The concern is whether there are more.”
It is not clear how the documents were made public, nor if they were leaked on purpose, but it would not be unlikely that the US authorities deliberately leaked these documents to force the “uncontrolled” Israel to stop its attack on Iran in order to avoid further involvement. in this war the US. The US is already on high alert for Iranian hacking campaigns – US intelligence agencies said in August that Iran had hacked documents belonging to Donald Trump’s election campaign.
