According to a report from the New York Times on Wednesday, FBI arrested a CIA official on charge of leaking classified documents that allegedly revealed Israel’s plans for a missile and drone strike on Iran.
“Asif W. Rahman was detained on Tuesday and appeared in federal court in Guam to face charges related to the deliberate retention and transmission of national defence information,” the report noted.
The leaked documents, which first surfaced on a pro-Iran Telegram channel, were produced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), responsible for analysing US satellite images and intelligence.
Rahman held a top-secret security clearance, granting him access to sensitive information, including confidential documents and photographs.
The FBI had acknowledged last month that it was investigating the leak and was collaborating with the Department of Defense and the intelligence community.
The Times of London reported on October 24 that Israel had postponed its planned attack on Iran after the documents were leaked. The concern was that, although the targets were not directly named, the information could help Iran anticipate attack patterns.
The Times also mentioned in a separate report this Tuesday that Israel devised an alternative plan but needed to test it before implementation. On October 26, Israeli jets carried out three waves of strikes targeting missile factories and other sites near Tehran and western Iran. Iran acknowledged the limited damage but reported that four soldiers were killed.
On October 1, Iran had retaliated by launching 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, in response to the killings of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
