Accessibility links

Breaking News

Iran

FILE - President Joe Biden, right, talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 25, 2024.
FILE - President Joe Biden, right, talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 25, 2024.

The United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel's plans to attack Iran, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press. A fourth U.S. official said the documents appear to be legitimate.

The documents are attributed to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency and note that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran's blistering ballistic missile attack on October 1. They were sharable within the "Five Eyes," which are the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The documents, which are marked top secret, were posted to the Telegram messaging app and first reported by CNN and Axios. The officials spoke on the 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 U.S. intelligence community or obtained by another method, like a hack — and whether any 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 posted, the official said.

The U.S. has urged Israel to take advantage of its elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and press for a cease-fire in Gaza, and has likewise urgently cautioned Israel not to further expand military operations in the north in Lebanon and risk a wider regional war. However, Israel's leadership has repeatedly stressed it will not let Iran's missile attack go unanswered.

Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated terrorist organizations by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and others.

In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports of the documents but did not have further comment.

The Hamas attack on Israel a year ago killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages. Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 42,400 Palestinians, with more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials. The Israeli military says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas fighters.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the leak of the two documents.

The documents first appeared online Friday via a channel on Telegram, claiming they had been leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community, then later the U.S. Defense Department. The information appeared entirely gathered through the use of satellite image analysis.

One of the two documents resembled the style of other material from the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency leaked by Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guardsman who pleaded guilty in March to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia's war on Ukraine and other national security secrets.

The Telegram channel involved in the leak identifies itself as being based in Tehran, Iran's capital. It previously published memes featuring Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and material in support of Tehran's self-described "Axis of Resistance," which includes Middle East militant groups armed by the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, left, shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, during a joint press conference in Istanbul on Oct. 19, 2024.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, left, shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, during a joint press conference in Istanbul on Oct. 19, 2024.

Israel's attacks in Lebanon and Gaza are pushing Iran to take "legitimate steps," Turkey's foreign minister said Saturday in a joint news conference in Istanbul with his Iranian counterpart.

"Israel's aggressive stance is forcing Iran to take legitimate steps," Turkey's Hakan Fidan said alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "constantly opening new fronts in the region" and "trying to draw Iran into this war," he said.

"The risk of war spreading to the entire region should not be underestimated."

Araghchi, who took part in Friday's meeting of South Caucasus nations in Istanbul, said the rising tension in Lebanon was "very worrying."

"The possibility of war in the region is always serious, and no one other than the Zionist regime wants that to happen. We want to reduce tensions, but we are ready for any scenario," he said.

Iran backs the Islamist groups Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, whose top leaders have been killed by Israel in the widening Middle East crisis.

Iran also backs Houthi rebels in Yemen and Shiite militias in Iraq, as well as Syria's armed forces. Tehran collectively calls these proxies and militias an "axis of resistance" against Israel.

On October 1, Iran launched a barrage of around 200 missiles in retaliation for the September 27 killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and the July 31 killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Israel, which has vowed to strike back at Iran for that barrage, killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Wednesday. Sinwar was the mastermind of the October 7, 2023, attacks that triggered the current conflict.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have warned they would hit Israel "painfully" if it attacks Iranian targets.

Load more

Special Report

XS
SM
MD
LG