The FBI confirmed it is investigating the reported leak of top-secret U.S. intelligence documents purporting to show Israel’s planned attack on Iran.
In a statement to The Epoch Times on Tuesday, a spokesperson confirmed that the “FBI is investigating the alleged leak of classified documents and working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community.”
Citing an ongoing investigation into the matter, the FBI spokesperson declined further comment.
Earlier this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told CNN that more broadly, the U.S. government is investigating the leak of the classified documents, which were posted on a Telegram channel and other social media platforms in recent days. The Epoch Times could not independently verify their authenticity.
An “investigation [is] underway and I’ll get a briefing on that in a couple of hours,” Johnson told CNN, adding that his office is “following it closely.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the Biden administration isn’t entirely sure whether the information was hacked or leaked, adding that there is no suggestion of any “additional documents like this finding their way into the public domain.” In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports of the documents but did not have further comment.
Those materials were apparently produced by the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a support agency within the Department of Defense (DOD), as well as the National Security Agency (NSA), another intelligence agency.
The documents noted that Israel is still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were shareable within the “Five Eyes,” an intelligence alliance comprised of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
The Telegram and X channel that initially uploaded the leaked material went by the name of “Middle East Spectator,” claiming on Oct. 18 that it allegedly obtained the documents from a U.S. intelligence community source. An Epoch Times review of the channel and its X account shows that it often posts pro-Iranian content, while its X account profile shows that it is based in Iran.
The “top secret” National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency documents posted online show an estimate Israel might carry out strikes on Iran and that Israel has conducted preparations on its munitions for its activity. However, it noted that U.S. officials cannot determine the “scale and scope” of the Israeli attack.
The documents cited satellite imagery that was taken between Oct. 15 and Oct. 16 inside Israel.
If accurate and confirmed, the report suggests the United States is carrying out close surveillance of Israeli activity on whether it is preparing for an attack on Iran, including using satellites on the Israeli Air Forces’ operations.
On Monday, Kirby told reporters that President Joe Biden is closely watching the results of the investigation into the leak.
“The president remains deeply concerned about any leakage of classified information into the public domain. That is not supposed to happen, and it’s unacceptable when it does,” Kirby said.
Israel has carried out a large-scale retaliatory operation against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist organization and political party in Lebanon, in recent weeks. An airstrike attributed to Israel’s military killed longtime former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a number of other top officials in the organization.
About three weeks ago, Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel in response to the recent military activity, including Israel’s separate military campaign against Hamas, the Gaza-based terrorist group responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that left more than 1,200 dead, thousands injured, and at least 250 taken hostage.
Earlier this year, Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guardsman, pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war on Ukraine and other national security secrets.
The Israeli military has not responded to requests for comment over the leak of the two documents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times