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CIA officer arrested over secret document. Leak of Israeli attack plans

CIA officer Asif W. Rahman was arrested by the FBI in Cambodia on Tuesday and charged with disclosing classified documents purporting to prove Israel's retaliatory plans against Iran New York Times reported on Wednesday. He was taken to federal court in Guam to face charges.

Rahman was charged in a US federal court in Virginia with intentionally storing and disclosing national defense information, the report said.

According to the New York TimesThe documents were created by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes information and photos from US spy satellites.

The CIA officer had a top secret security clearance

Rahman worked for the CIA abroad and according to this New York TimesRahman held a top secret security clearance with access to sensitive information, which allowed him to handle confidential documents and photographs.

The documents were previously distributed on the Telegram app and US officials said they did not know where the documents came from.

Missiles like those used in Iran's retaliatory attack on the U.S. military base at Ayn al-Asad in 2020 are on display at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran, Iran, on January 7, 2022. (Source: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY). VIA REUTERS)

Senior American officials had already expressed concerns in October after the leak of two US intelligence documents outlining a possible Israeli attack on Iran.

Both the US Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the leaked documents but did not dispute their authenticity.

The leak came on Friday when the Middle East Spectator Telegram channel claimed it had received documents about Israel's attack preparations from a source within the US intelligence community. This Telegram channel is known for publishing pro-Iranian propaganda and its Twitter account states that its operators are based in Iran.

Walla contributed to this report.



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