The documents, dated October 15 and 16, began circulating online on Friday after being posted on Telegram by an account called "Middle East Spectator". They are marked top secret and have markings indicating that they are meant to be seen only by the US and its "Five Eyes" allies – Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK.
The documents describe preparations that Israel appears to be making for a strike against Iran. One of the documents says the plans involve Israel moving the munitions.
Another document says it comes from the National Security Agency and shows Israeli air force exercises involving air-to-surface missiles, which are also believed to be in preparation for an attack on Iran.
An investigation has been launched
A US official said the investigation was looking into who had access to the alleged Pentagon document. Any such leak would automatically trigger an FBI investigation alongside the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies. The FBI declined to comment to CNN.
The leak comes at a highly sensitive time in US-Israeli relations and will anger the Israelis, who are preparing to strike Iran in response to Iran's October 1 missile attack. One of the documents also suggests something Israel has always refused to publicly confirm: that the country has nuclear weapons. The document says the US has seen no indication that Israel intends to use a nuclear weapon against Iran.
"If it is true that Israeli tactical plans to respond to Iran's Oct. 1 attack were leaked, it is a serious breach," said Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and a retired CIA officer.
The National Security Council referred CNN to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Pentagon for comment. The Pentagon and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency declined to comment.
How would the documents have gotten to the public?
It is not clear how the documents became public, nor if they were deliberately hacked or leaked.
A major leak of US intelligence last year also strained US relations with allies and partners, including South Korea and Ukraine, after a 21-year-old Air National Guard man posted classified information on the social media platform Discord .
Middle East Spectator Telegram channel reaction
“We state that the Middle East Spectator is not aware of any other leaks of classified US documents. We also reiterate that we have no connection to the original source, who we believe to be a whistleblower within the US Department of Defense.
As far as we know, the documents first appeared in a private Telegram group with just over 7,000 members, where the leaker was likely present. Somehow the documents got out of the group; At this time, the Middle East Spectator became aware of the documents through an anonymous message. Such messages were sent to various other individuals and media outlets.
In addition, we reject claims made by various media outlets, including Axios and the Jerusalem Post, that we are ' affiliated with Iran '. Middle East Spectator is a united team of completely independent journalists," says the quoted Telegram channel.
