US investigates leak of secret documents on Israel's plans to attack Iran

U.S. officials are investigating a leak of secret Pentagon documents regarding plans by Israel to retaliate against Iran for the airstrike earlier this month. This was acknowledged by unnamed sources to various media outlets over the past few hours and even by House Speaker Mike Johnson himself.

The documents were published Friday by an Iranian-affiliated Telegram account, according to Axios. That account claimed that a member of the U.S. intelligence community had given it the two documents, one of them a Defense Department report distributed to authorized personnel last week.

Since the leak became known, military sources and experts have backed up the veracity of the documents. One official admitted to CNN that the release of the material was “deeply concerning.”

Rep. Mike Johnson repeated this sentiment to describe the news in conversation with the same network. "We’re following it closely," he assured. He also said he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and had promised him a briefing when he had more details about what had happened.

The materials in question would have been prepared by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. In addition, they would be addressed to members of the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance: the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. For the time being, the intelligence agencies only said they were aware of reports of the leak.

The disclosed information reportedly includes plans to relocate munitions and to use air-to-surface missiles, both as part of the Israeli response to the Iranian attack weeks ago. According to reports, one of the documents confirms that Israel possesses nuclear weapons (although they would not be part of the plan to respond to Iran).

Friday's revelation came at a sensitive time in the war, with Israel planning a military retaliation to Iran while striking its terrorist proxies in the region, most recently culminating in the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. This weekend, tensions escalated further following a drone strike on Netanyahu’s private home that the leader described as a failed assassination attempt by Hezbollah, specifically pointing to Iran as the mastermind of the attack.