The US is investigating apparent leaks about Israeli attack plans against Iran

President Joe Biden is “deeply concerned” about the leak of classified documents containing the U.S. assessment of Israeli plans to attack Iran, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

Officials have not determined whether the documents were released as a result of a hack or a leak, Mr. Kirby said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed the release of the documents over the weekend. They are intended to curb the movement of Israeli military assets in preparation for a response to the Iranian missile attack on October 1st.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the country is ready to counter any Israeli attack.

The documents, which are classified as top secret, are accessible within the Five Eyes intelligence alliance from the USA, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, reported CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

There is no “indication” that further documents will be added.[find] find their way into the public eye,” Mr. Kirby said on Monday.

He added that President Biden will “actively monitor” the investigation to find out how the documents were released and he intends to hear about actions taken “to prevent something like this from happening again.”

For weeks Israel has been considering how and when it should respond to Iran’s latest missile attack. Israel’s defense minister warned it would be “deadly, precise and surprising.”

The two documents reportedly appear to belong to the US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency (NSA) and were posted on an Iran-allied Telegram account on Friday.

Johnson, the ranking member of Congress, told CNN on Sunday that “the leak is very concerning.”

“There are some serious allegations being made, an investigation is underway and I will be briefed on it in a few hours,” said the Republican lawmaker from Louisiana.

The Pentagon confirmed in a statement that it was aware of reports about the documents but did not comment further.

The US authorities involved and the Israeli government have not commented publicly.

CNN and Axios first reported the alleged leak, which appears to reaffirm that the US is spying on its close ally Israel.

One document refers to Israel’s nuclear capabilities – which neither the US nor Israel ever officially recognize – and appears to rule out the use of such an option in a planned attack.

A former American intelligence official told the BBC that the unauthorized release was likely an attempt to reveal the extent of the planned retaliation and possibly disrupt it.

The U.S. is investigating whether the information was intentionally leaked by a U.S. agent or whether it was stolen, possibly through hacking, officials told the Associated Press (AP).

The two documents appear to be based on satellite information collected October 15-16.

The first is titled: “Israel: Air Force continues to prepare for attack on Iran, conducts second large-force exercise,” Reuters news agency said. It describes how to deal with ballistic and air-to-surface missiles.

The second is titled: “Israel: Defense Forces continue key munitions preparations and covert UAV activities almost certainly for attack on Iran.” It’s about Israeli drone movements.

On Friday, US President Joe Biden said he had a “good understanding” of Israel’s plans.

“Do you have a good idea of ​​what Israel will do now in response to Iran… and when it will actually respond?” a reporter asked him.

“Yes, and yes,” Biden replied.

“Can you tell us?” the reporter asked.

“No and no.”