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U.S. officials are extremely concerned about a potentially major security breach after two alleged U.S. intelligence documents about Israel’s preparations for an attack on Iran were published by a Telegram account affiliated with Iran.
Why it matters: The alleged leak comes as Israel completes weeks of preparations for a retaliation against Iran, which attacked Israel with a barrage of ballistic missiles on Oct. 1.
- The leak could be an attempt to disrupt the Israeli operation.
- The Pentagon and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the leaked documents, but did not dispute their authenticity.
Driving the news: A Telegram channel by the name “Middle East Spectator” claimed on Friday that it had received documents from a source in the U.S. intelligence community about Israel’s preparations for an attack on Iran.
- The Telegram channel routinely publishes pro-Iranian content, and the profile of the X account affiliated with the channel says it is located in Iran.
- The documents include an alleged Visual Intelligence report by the Department of Defense National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) distributed inside the U.S. intelligence community earlier this week.
- The authenticity of the documents has not been independently verified by Axios.
The alleged report details measures that have been carried out in recent days at several Israeli Air Force bases, including the transfer of advanced munitions which, according to the report, were intended for an attack on Iran.
- It also states that according to U.S. signals intelligence, the Israeli Air Force conducted a large exercise this week involving intelligence planes and likely fighter jets trained for a possible attack against Iran.
- The alleged intelligence report also detailed preparations in Israeli drone units for an attack against Iran.
Between the lines: The report, if accurate, would suggest very close and detailed surveillance by U.S. intelligence of Israel’s preparations for an attack on Iran, including the use of satellites to spy on operations carried out at Israeli Air Force bases.
- The potential leak could be the sign of very serious security breach within the U.S. intelligence community that resulted in top secret classified information reaching a Telegram channel affiliated with Iran.
What they’re saying: A U.S. official told Axios that the alleged leak is extremely concerning, but that he doesn’t believe it would influence Israel’s operational plans against Iran.
- A senior Israeli official said that the Israeli defense establishment is aware of the alleged leak and takes it very seriously.