An unauthorised leak of classified documents suggests Israel has been holding military exercises for a major ballistic missile attack on Iran, as tensions between the two countries peak.
The US is reportedly investigating the information that was released, which was marked as top secret. The documents show Israel has been undergoing military drills following Iran’s blistering missile attack on October 1.
The documents, shareable within the Five Eyes intelligence alliance which are the US, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, were published on pro-Iranian Telegram channels on Friday. They are attributed to the US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency (NSA), The Times reports.
The two documents are shown to be based on satellite information obtained between October 15 and 16.
The first is titled: “Israel: Air Force Continues Preparations for Strike on Iran and Conducts a Second Large-Force Employment Exercise”, according to Reuters news agency.
The second is titled: “Israel: Defense Forces Continue Key Munitions Preparations and Covert UAV Activity Almost Certainly for a Strike on Iran”.
The military exercise appears to match the strikes carried out by Israel last month targeting Houthi rebels, and included at least 16 airborne missiles, 40 state-of-the-art “Rocks” missiles and fueling tankers.
On October 1, Iran launched almost 200 ballistic missiles towards Israel, with a small number striking central and southern parts of the country – while most were intercepted. This was Iran’s second such attack on Israel this year, following its launch of about 300 missiles and drones in April.
The leak shows no indication as to which could be the precise targets in Iran and if they are standard military targets or sites associated with its nuclear programme or oil industry.
US President Joe Biden has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid striking both, as crossing Iran’s ‘red lines’ could trigger a larger regional war.
The documents also do not reveal any secret activity that Netanyahu may be planning. The US agencies involved, as well as the Israeli government, have not publicly commented on the leak.
However, Mike Johsnon, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, told CNN on Sunday that “the leak is very concerning”.
He said: “There’s some serious allegations being made, there’s an investigation under way, and I’ll get a briefing on that in a couple of hours.”
