Federal authorities have charged Asif W. Rahman, a former CIA official, for leaking classified documents detailing Israel’s plans to launch a strike in Iran.
The FBI arrested Rahman in Cambodia and he is now facing charges under the Espionage Act, according to the New York Times. Prosecutors allege that he unlawfully kept and transmitted national defense information.
The FBI previously told The Times that it was “working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and intelligence community.”
The documents were prepared by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes images and information collected by U.S. spy satellites. It conducts work in support of clandestine and military operations.
Mr. Rahman, who worked abroad for the C.I.A., was set to appear in Guam on Thursday.
The information in the documents is highly classified and details interpretations of satellite imagery that shed light on a possible strike by Israel on Iran. They began circulating last month on the Telegram app. U.S. officials have previously said that they did not know from where the documents had been taken, and that they were looking for the original source of the leak.
Court documents said Mr. Rahman held a top secret security clearance with access to sensitive compartmentalized information, which is typical for many C.I.A. employees who handle classified materials.
The Telegram account that leaked the information was tied to the Iranian regime. The Middle East Spectator published details from the Defense Department's report, claiming it received the documents anonymously through the app, as reported by RedState's Streiff.
This is how Middle East Spectator describes the sequence of events, keeping in mind that this is a regime-owned account:
Middle East Spectator is an open-source news aggregator. We are independent journalists, and are not tied to any government entity or organization.
On Friday morning at approximately 01:15 AM Tehran time, one of our acquaintances received, through an anonymous source on Telegram who refused to identify himself, two highly classified U.S. intelligence documents, regarding preparations by the Zionist regime for an attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We have no connection to the original leaker, and we are not aware of his identity. We also have no knowledge of the alleged authenticity of the documents.
Furthermore, we assumed that the documents had been floating around elsewhere on Telegram, making them a part of the public domain.
We reject attempts by various Zionist and American media outlets to intimidate the reporters of Middle East Spectator, who are exercising their full and inalienable right of press freedom. Free Palestine.
The information was from one of the most compartmented areas, the so-called Five Eyes—Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. This information was not shared with NATO or with regional allies. The Biden regime is trying to downplay the significance but is not doing a great job: Another US official said, "These two documents are bad, but not horrible. The concern is if there are more.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) chimed in on the leak in a post on X, noting that he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the matter. "I told him America stands strong with Israel and reiterated our ongoing commitment to help counter Iran and its terrorist proxies," he wrote.
I spoke with my friend Prime Minister @Netanyahu today, and I am happy to report he is safe, in good spirits, and undeterred.
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) October 19, 2024
I told him America stands strong with Israel and reiterated our ongoing commitment to help counter Iran and its terrorist proxies.
This is a crucial… https://t.co/G4w2nqXSDC
During a conversation with CNN's Jake Tapper, Johnson said the leak was "very concerning" and affirmed that an investigation was "underway."
As Israel contends with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, it has also clashed with Iran directly and through its proxy groups. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced after its retaliation against Iran that it has been “fully mobilized” to protect its citizens from its enemies. Fox News’ foreign correspondent Trey Yingst affirmed that the strikes were “meant to send a message of deterrence” to the Iranian regime.
Israel’s counterattack was quite comprehensive, with strikes reaching Iran’s Imam Khomeini Airport and multiple major cities. The military response comes as Israel is also clashing with Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon, which recently launched a drone strike that hit near an Israeli kindergarten school.
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