The US government is investigating the unauthorized release of classified documents assessing Israel’s plan to attack Iran.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged the investigation Sunday in remarks on CNN’s State of the Union program, calling the breach “very concerning.”
“There are serious allegations being raised there,” the Louisiana Republican said. “The investigation is ongoing. We will be briefed on it in the next few hours.”
Three U.S. officials previously spoke to The Associated Press about their investigation into the breach. A fourth U.S. official said the documents in question appeared to be legitimate.
The document, from the U.S. Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, states that Israel is still keeping military assets in place to carry out military strikes in response to Iran’s ferocious ballistic missile attack on October 1. It is pointed out that it is being moved. These could be shared within the ‘Five Eyes’ of the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The document, marked top secret, was posted on the messaging app Telegram and was 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 will ask how the documents were obtained, including whether they were intentionally leaked by members of the U.S. intelligence community or obtained through other means, such as hacking, and whether other intelligence information was compromised. They are also investigating, one of the officials said. . As part of this investigation, authorities are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were posted, officials said.
The United States has urged Israel to use the removal of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to force a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and has similarly urged Israel to expand its military operations further in northern Lebanon and threaten a broader regional war. He issued an urgent warning not to take any risks. However, Israeli leaders have repeatedly stressed that they have no intention of letting Iran’s missile attacks go unchecked.
The Pentagon said in a statement that it was aware of reports of the document but had no further comment.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him “my friend” and explaining how he had tried to encourage him. “There will be a classified level briefing, and then there will be other briefings, but we are watching that closely,” he said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the leaks of the two documents.
The document was first published online Friday through a Telegram channel, claiming it had been leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community and then the U.S. Department of Defense. This information appears to have been collected entirely using satellite image analysis.
One of the two documents was leaked to the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency by Air National Guard officer Jack Teixeira, who pleaded guilty in March to leaking classified military documents related to Russia’s war with Ukraine and other national security. The format was similar to that of other materials.
The Telegram channel involved in the leak said it was based in Iran’s capital, Tehran. It has previously posted memes featuring Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei and content supporting Tehran’s self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance,” which includes Middle Eastern extremist groups armed by the Islamic Republic.
