Washington investigates leak of secret intelligence documents on Israel’s preparations to strike Iran
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed Tuesday that it’s investigating the leak of classified intelligence documents about Israeli preparations to strike Iran in response to a missile attack carried out by Iran against Israel.
“The FBI is investigating the alleged leak of classified documents and is working closely with the Department of Defense and the intelligence community,” a statement said.
“As this is an ongoing investigation, we have no further comment” at this stage, the statement added.
According to press reports, the leaked documents include an analysis conducted by the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on activities carried out by the Israeli military in preparation for a response to the Iranian missile attack that occurred on October 1. No potential targets for the Israeli response were mentioned.
The documents were published by the Middle East Spectator account on Telegram.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday that US authorities don’t know at this point whether it was a leak or a hack of information.
“We don’t know exactly how these documents came to be in the public domain,” Kirby added.
“I know that the Department of Defense is investigating the matter, and I am confident that as they work through that, they will try to determine how they became public”.
Kirby stressed that President Joe Biden is deeply concerned about any leak of classified information into the public domain… It shouldn’t happen, and it becomes unacceptable when it happens.
The documents posted on Telegram include analyses by US federal agencies based on satellite imagery, according to media reports.
On Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump denounced the incompetence of the outgoing Democratic administration during an election rally in Miami, accusing it of “handing over all Israeli plans to the Iranian enemy”.
Trump added in a post on his social media, Truth Social, “this is likely from the Department of Defense… We need to find the source of the leaks!”
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a visit to Israel on Tuesday, discussed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ways of cooperation between the two countries in confronting the Iranian threat, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
In turn, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said in a post on X that he met Blinken at the Defense Ministry headquarters, where “we discussed the operational progress of the Israeli army in various fields”.
“I stressed our commitment and duty to ensure the return of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, and we discussed the IDF’s achievements in its mission to destroy Hezbollah’s offensive infrastructure and create the conditions for our northern communities to return home and live in safety,” Galant added.
The Israeli minister continued, “I recently stressed the importance of standing together against Iranian aggression, which strengthens deterrence throughout the region”.
