The United States is investigating the unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran, three U.S. officials said.
The officials revealed the posting to The Associated Press, and a fourth U.S. official said the documents appeared legitimate.
The documents are attributed to the US Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, and indicate that Israel was still in the process of establishing military means to carry out a military attack in response to the devastating ballistic attack of Iran on October 1. These documents could be shared by the “Five Eyes”, that is to say the United States, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The documents, which are marked “top secret”, were posted on the messaging app Telegram and were first reported by CNN and Axios. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The investigation is also looking into how the documents were obtained – including whether they were intentionally leaked by a member of the US intelligence community or whether they were obtained by another method, such as a hacking – and whether other intelligence information was compromised, one of the officials said. As part of the investigation, officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were released, the official added.
The United States urged Israel to take advantage of the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinouarand to push for a ceasefire in Gaza. They also warned Israel against expanding military operations in northern Lebanon and the risk of a wider regional war. However, Israeli leaders have repeatedly stressed that they will not let Iranian missile attack without response.
In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the documents but had no further comment.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the leak of the two documents.
The documents first appeared online Friday through a channel on Telegram, which claimed they were leaked by a member of the U.S. intelligence community and then by the U.S. Department of Defense. The information appears to have been gathered entirely through analysis of satellite images.
One of the two documents resembles other US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency documents leaked by Jack Teixeiraan Air National Guard member who pleaded guilty in March to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war against Ukraine and other national security secrets.
The Telegram channel involved in the leak identifies itself as being based in Tehran, the capital of Iran. She has previously posted memes featuring Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and materials supporting Tehran’s self-described “axis of resistance,” which includes Middle Eastern militant groups. armed by the Islamic Republic.
