After intelligence leaks, Israel is pushing ahead with its plans to attack Iran

Shafaq News / On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi approved plans to attack Iran and indicated that these plans will later be submitted to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for ratification, Israeli Public Broadcasting reported.

An intelligence source told the Times that Israel postponed its retaliation against Iran due to the need to change its plans, explaining that “leaked American documents forced Israel to revise its plans and develop an alternative strategy.” There will be retribution, but it took longer than it should have.”

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reiterated his support for “Israel's right to defend itself” in the Qatari capital of Doha today, adding that the US is working with Israel to counter any further Iranian attacks on Israel. “We continue to work with our partners in the region to make it clear to Iran that further attacks against Israel will have extremely negative consequences for Iran's interests,” the US Secretary of State announced.

A leak from a pro-Iranian Telegram channel revealed details about Israel's plans to use ballistic missiles against Iran and helped Tehran predict attack patterns. The secret documents, dated October 15 and 16 and confirmed by U.S. officials, describe Israel's military preparations, including air force operational exercises and aerial refueling exercises.

The Pentagon rejected claims that Ariane Tabatabai, chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary for special operations of Iranian descent, was behind the leak, saying she was not under investigation and that the department was cooperating with the ongoing investigation. The documents detail the use of air-launched ballistic missiles, including the Golden Horizon and Rocks missiles, which are designed for long-range strikes against well-protected targets.

The documents were compiled by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) and detail Israeli military movements, including missile exercises and air force maneuvers in preparation for a possible attack on Iran. The lack of accompanying satellite images in the leaked files has led to speculation about how the information was obtained and distributed.

An Iranian military source had recently warned that if Israeli actions against Iran included the possibility of targeting military sites, the Iranian response would be certain and far exceed Israeli estimates.

Earlier this month, Iran fired around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for the assassinations of senior figures in Tehran and Beirut. Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a general in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Israel recently acknowledged that Iranian missiles had hit military targets and caused material damage exceeding $50 million, but reported no casualties.

Israel's Energy Minister Eli Cohen further warned that “no military facility, infrastructure or individual is immune from our attack,” adding, “All options are on the table, including an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.”