A senior staffer in the office of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was identified as the leaker of the classified documents dealing with the Israeli preparations for an attack on Iran, Sky News Arabic reported on Tuesday, quoting a senior Pentagon Source. Fox News reported from their sources that the report is false and that the staffer was at work and retains her security clearance.
The suspected staffer was identified as Ariane Tabatabai, an Iranian American who works as the Bureau Chief to Austin's aid for special operations and was authorized to have access to very secret information.
A report in the Washington Post on Tuesday said the FBI was investigating the leak of the two highly classified intelligence documents. "The FBI is investigating the alleged leak of classified documents and working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community," the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement cited by the Post.
4 View gallery
Classified documents leaked from the Pentagon show Israel's plans for an attack on Iran
(Photo: IDF, X)
An investigation into the leak of the documents that appeared on a telegram channel was launched and the incident made headlines in major news outlets. Officials in Washington expressed their deep concern over the leak.
The documents are attributed to the U.S. Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency (GNA) and note that Israel continues to move military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran's ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1.
They were sharable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Iranian ballistic missiles over Temple Mount
The documents do not contain details or an overall picture of the targets of the attack, but rather general preparations for a long-range attack by the Air Force, which the intelligence professionals and the Revolutionary Guards Air Force could have assessed for themselves using the basic intelligence they already have.
One of the documents states that, according to the analysis of various images, the Air Force conducted exercises with air-launched ballistic missiles (ALBM), including at least 16 "Golden Horizon" missiles and 40 "Rocks" or ISO2 missiles. The documents also discuss "covert drone activity" and extensive deployment drills. It also reports on "secret UAV activity," and claims that the Air Force conducted a "second large-scale deployment exercise" between October 15 and 16. The report also states that, during those days, activity related to air-to-surface missiles (ASM) was observed at the Ramat David and Ramon Air Force Bases.
Another leaked document, which allegedly contains an analysis by the NGA, reports that the IDF "probably" also conducted an aerial refueling exercise on October 16, and contained a side note stating Israel's apparent ability to use UAVs in order to gather intelligence in Iran and "across the region."
Israeli officials said the leak was an embarrassment for the Pentagon just one year after dozens of classified documents about the Russian war on Ukraine, were leaked by a U.S. Air Force IT technician.
The leak shows how closely the Americans are watching Israel, despite the close alliance between the two nations and its revelation was the source of some discomfort and damage to the credibility of the American security and intelligence agencies.
Israeli officials said they expected the leaker to be found and prosecuted so that such events do not occur but added that the leak would not prompt Israelis to hide information from their American counterparts although, it may increase some mistrust already felt against Washington.