US investigates leaked documents on Israel’s plans to attack Iran – National

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is investigating the unauthorized release of classified documents assessing Israel’s plans to attack Iran, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press. A fourth U.S. official said the documents appeared legitimate.

The documents are attributed to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, and note that Israel was still moving military assets to carry out a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on October 1 . “Five Eyes”, which are the United States, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The documents, classified top secret, were posted on the messaging app Telegram and first reported Saturday 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 examining how the documents were obtained – including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the US intelligence community or whether they were obtained through another method, such as hacking – and whether other intelligence information was compromised, one of the officials said. . As part of that investigation, officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were released, the official said.

The United States urged Israel to take advantage of the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and push for a ceasefire in Gaza, and also urgently warned Israel against expansion additional military operations in northern Lebanon and the risk of a wider regional war. However, Israeli leaders have repeatedly emphasized that they will not let the Iranian missile attack go unanswered.

2:38
‘Moment of justice’: NATO leaders say assassination of Hamas leader Sinwar opens door to ceasefire

In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports about the documents but had no further comment.

Get the latest national news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up to receive breaking news alerts sent directly to you as they happen.

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 via a Telegram channel, claiming they were leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community and then later by the U.S. Department of Defense. The information appears to be collected entirely through analysis of satellite images.

One of the two documents resembled the style of other National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency documents leaked by Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guard member who pleaded guilty in March to leaking highly classified military documents about the war of Russia against Ukraine and other national security secrets.

The Telegram channel involved in the leak claims to be based in Tehran, the Iranian capital. He has previously posted memes featuring Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as materials supporting Tehran’s self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Middle Eastern militant groups armed by the Republic Islamic.

Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

&copy 2024 The Canadian Press