The United States administration is investigating the unauthorized publication of sensitive information evaluating Israel’s plan to attack Iran. One of the known parties confirmed the legitimacy of the documents. Speaking on 20th October on CNN, US House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is a Republican from Louisiana, acknowledged the probe and expressed his grave concern over the leak.
He expressed, “There are some serious allegations being made there. The investigation’s underway, and I’ll get a briefing on that in a couple of hours.” Three US officials verified the same for the Associated Press. The Pentagon also admitted to being aware of the development.
The documents, which are dated 15th and 16th October, were uploaded on Telegram by a reported pro-Iranian account known as “Middle East Spectator,” and they started making the rounds online on 18th October. They bear labels designating them as top secret and intended only for viewing by the United States and its “Five Eyes” partners, which include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
First, it was claimed that the American Defense Department and then a member of the intelligence community in the United States only had disclosed them. It seemed that all of the data had been obtained by analyzing satellite images.
— ❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇷/🇮🇱 EXCLUSIVE: One of our sources in the U.S. intelligence community has shared with us an extremely sensitive top secret U.S. intelligence document, dated October 15-16, detailing Israeli preparations for an extensive strike inside Iran: pic.twitter.com/pH53YiJ390
— Middle East Spectator (@Spectator_MENA) October 17, 2024
According to documents attributed to the National Security Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Israel continued to prepare military resources for a retaliatory strike to Iran’s lethal ballistic missile attack on 1st October. One of the documents attributed to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency involved Israel moving munitions around, while the other from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency described air-to-surface missile drills conducted by the Israeli air force, which are presumably part of the preparations for an impending attack on Iran.
The documents said, “The Israeli Air Force continued air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) handling, covered UAV operations, and conducted a second large-force employment (LFE) exercise from 15th to 16th October 2024, according to imagery analysis.” They further stated that more than 40 IS02 (ROCKS) ALBMs and at least 16 Golden Horizon ALBMs have been handled by the Israeli Air Force since 8th October and added that Hatzerim Airfield was still handling ALBMs as of 16th October.
The documents showed that Tel Aviv was equipping aircraft with ROCKS and Golden Horizon air-launched ballistic missiles for an assault. Another assertion made in one of the documents is that Israel possesses nuclear weapons, something the nation has consistently refused to acknowledge in public. The document also highlighted that there are no signs that the US believes Israel intends to attack Iran with nuclear weapons.
One of the individuals shared that the probe seeks to examine how the documents were obtained, whether through hacking or by an intentional leak by a member of the US intelligence community. It also wants to determine whether any additional intelligence data was exposed. According to the official, investigators are conducting an inquiry to find out who viewed the documents before they were uploaded. Notably, any such leak would automatically set off a joint FBI, Pentagon, and US intelligence agency probe.
A National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency document that was leaked by Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who entered a guilty plea in March for leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war on Ukraine, bore similarities to one of the two documents. Several of its contents were defined as transferable within the Five Eyes while some were marked to be shared between the United States and the United Kingdom only.
Tehran, the capital of Iran, is listed as the location of the Telegram channel that was involved in the leak. It has previously released material in favour of Tehran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance,” which consists of militant organizations in the Middle East that are armed by the Islamic Republic, as well as memes with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. Iran is listed as the location of the X account linked to the channel, according to its profile. The documents contained a reported visual intelligence report that the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) of the Department of Defense disseminated earlier this week among members of the American intelligence community.
The group, however, claimed that they do not know the identity of the person who leaked the document, nor do they have any ties with them. They also denied knowing anything about the authenticity of the documents. They added that their group was made up of independent journalists who had no connection to Iran. “As far as we are aware, the documents first appeared in a private Telegram group with just over 7000 members, where the leaker was likely present. Somehow, the documents found their way out of the group; it was at this moment that the Middle East Spectator took notice of the documents through an anonymous DM. Such DMs were sent to various other people and news outlets,” alleged Middle East Spectator.
