ROME: There are no indications any employees from the Office of the Secretary of Defense are being investigated for the leak of US intelligence about Israel’s preparations to strike Iran, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday.
“There’s no OSD official being named as a part of this investigation,” Austin said while speaking to reporters in Rome.
The FBI said on Tuesday it was investigating the public disclosure of a pair of highly classified documents describing Israel’s preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran.
Austin added that he did not have any indication that “any OSD official will be implicated as a part of this.”
Social media posts, without evidence, have singled out a US Defense Department employee as being under investigation for the leak.
The leaked documents appear to have been prepared by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, describing US interpretations of Israeli Air Force and Navy planning based on satellite imagery from Oct. 15-16. They began circulating last week on the Telegram messaging app.
Israel has been planning a response to a ballistic-missile barrage carried out by Iran on Oct. 1, Tehran’s second direct attack on Israel in six months. Israel has intensified its offensive in Gaza and Lebanon, days after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
White House spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that it has not been determined whether the disclosure was a hack or an intentional leak by a US person with access to the sensitive intelligence.