A former United States government employee has been charged with allegedly leaking classified documents about Israel’s potential plans to retaliate against Iran earlier this year, local media reported on Wednesday citing court filings. The CIA official identified as Asif William Rahman was arrested in Cambodia on Tuesday by the FBI and charged with two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defence information, according to filings in Guam’s federal court, the New York Times said.
The documents were prepared by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes images and information collected by US spy satellites. It conducts work in support of clandestine and military operations, the NYT said. As per the US news outlet, court documents said Rahman held a top-secret security clearance with access to sensitive compartmentalized information.
According to court records, Rahman allegedly illegally leaked the information on October 17 from locations outside the US, including in Cambodia, the CBS News reported. The report added that he was indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia last week and is set to make an initial appearance in Guam federal court for removal proceedings on Thursday.
US investigators inside the Pentagon and with the FBI launched an investigation last month after documents belonging to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency were posted in a Telegram channel around the time that Israel was considering a retaliatory strike against Iran, sources told CBS News.
Iran in April this year had attacked Israel, in retaliation for an Israeli air strike on an Iranian embassy compound in Syria that killed several top commanders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). An Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital on July 30 killed Hezbollah’s top commander Fuad Shukr. The next day Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in Tehran.
In September this year, Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. Iran on October 1 this year launched an attack on Isreal and Israel Defence Force carried out strikes on October 25 targetting several sites, in Iran including facilities tied to the Iranian drone and missile programs and air defence network. The Iranian military confirmed that four soldiers had died in the attack.
