US probes leak of classified intel detailing Israel's plans to attack Iran

As the ongoing crisis in the Middle East continues to escalate, reports are emerging that the United States is currently investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that focuses on Israel’s plans to attack Iran. Three officials told The Associated Press that the leak has rattled Washington, which is pushing Israel to ease its wrath in the region.

A fourth official told the news outlets that the documents circulating online “appear to be legitimate.” The leaked documents are attributed to the US Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency and elaborate on how Israel plans to move military assets to conduct a strike against Iran.

The plans mentioned that the Israeli strikes would be conducted in retaliation to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on October 1 this year. Interestingly, the documents were also sharable within “Five Eyes,” which is a coalition between the US, Canada, the UK, New Zealand and Australia.

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The documents leaked on Telegram

The documents which were marked top secret were posted online on Telegram and the leak was first reported by CNN and Axios. The current investigation will now examine how the plans were obtained and see whether it was an intentional leak or not. Sources told The Associated Press that the officials are working to determine who had access to the plans before they were shared online.

It is pertinent to note that the documents are emerging at a time when the US is pushing for a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict following the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Washington had also warned Israel not to target Iran’s nuclear facilities. However, Israel’s leadership has repeatedly stressed it will not let Iran’s missile attack go unanswered.

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In a statement shared shortly after the document leak stirred major headlines, the Pentagon said that it is aware of all the reports. However, the Defence Department did not have further comments on the matter.

With inputs from the agencies.