According to three people familiar with the situation, the United States is investigating a leak of highly classified U.S. intelligence about Israel's plans to retaliate against Iran. One of them confirmed the authenticity of the documents. The leaked documents were first reported on Saturday by Axios.
A US official told CNN that the leak is "deeply disturbing".
The documents, dated 15 and 16 October, began circulating on the internet on Friday after an account called "Middle East Spectator" posted them on Telegram.
They are marked top secret and have a designation that only the United States and its Five Eyes allies - Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom - are to see them.
They describe Israel's preparations for a strike against Iran. One of the documents, prepared by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, states that the plans include moving Israel's munitions.
Another document cites the National Security Agency as its source and describes Israeli Air Force exercises involving air-to-ground missiles, also believed to be in preparation for a strike against Iran. CNN does not directly quote from or show the documents.
A US official said the investigation is looking into who had access to the alleged Pentagon document. Any such leak would automatically trigger an FBI investigation along with the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies. The FBI declined to comment.
The leak comes at an extremely sensitive moment in US-Israeli relations and is sure to anger the Israelis, who are preparing to strike against Iran in response to the October 1 Iranian missile attack. One of the documents also suggests something that Israel has always refused to acknowledge publicly: that the country has nuclear weapons. The document says the US has seen no indication that Israel is planning to use a nuclear weapon against Iran.
"If it is true that Israeli tactical plans for responding to the October 1 Iranian attack were leaked, this is a serious violation," He said Mick Mulroy, former Under Secretary of Defense for Near East Affairs and retired CIA officer.
Mulroy added that "future coordination between the US and Israel could also be called into question. Trust is a key component of the relationship and, depending on how the leak was handled, could be eroded."
The National Security Council referred CNN to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Pentagon for comment. The Pentagon and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency declined to comment. CNN has reached out to the National Security Agency for comment.
Another U.S. official said that "these two documents are bad, but not terrible. The concern is whether there are more."
It is unclear how the documents became public, or whether they were hacked or deliberately leaked. The United States is already on high alert for Iranian hacking campaigns - US intelligence agencies said in Augustthat Iran hacked documents belonging to Donald Trump's campaign.
A major U.S. intelligence leak last year also strained U.S. relations with allies and partners, including South Korea and Ukraine, after a 21-year-old Air National Guard member posted highly classified information on the social media platform Discord.
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