CIA Official Arrested for Leaking Israel’s Plan to Retaliate Against Iran

Central Intelligence Agency official Asif William Rahman was arrested this week and charged for leaking classified documents that showed Israel was preparing a retaliatory strike on Iran.

Arrest: Rahman was arrested in Cambodia on Tuesday by fbi officers and taken to the United States territory of Guam. He will appear in court on Thursday to answer to a Justice Department request that he be transferred to northern Virginia for prosecution.

He is being charged with two counts of violating the Espionage Act.

The leak: On October 26, Israel retaliated against Iran for its October 1 attack, when it launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles into Israel.

Prior to October 26, however, Pentagon documents marked “Top Secret” appeared on the Telegram messaging app and began circulating on social media.

The documents from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency showed that, based on satellite imagery from October 15 and 16, Israel was preparing military assets to conduct a strike.

The documents were sharable with the Five Eyes intelligence alliance between the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Rahman is being charged for leaking both of the documents.

Limited: Many of the details of Rahman’s case are still unknown, particularly his motivation for leaking the information.

At the time, the Biden administration was advising Israel to show restraint in retaliating against Iran. Many of the current administration’s efforts have limited or even hindered Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Learn more: Read our August Trumpet issue’s feature article, “Who Is Behind the War on Netanyahu.”