CIA official Asif William Rahman arrested over leaked Israel plans to attack Iran
A CIA official is charged with two counts of violating the Espionage Act after leaks that exposed Israel’s plans to attack Iran, according to US court documents.
Asif W. Rahman, who works abroad for the intelligence agency, was indicted in federal court last week, charged with wilful retention and transmission of national defence information before he was arrested in Cambodia on Tuesday, local tiem.
He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Guam, a US territory, on Thursday.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The information, which began circulating on the Telegram app last month ahead of Israel’s actual attack, was put together by the National Geospatial-Intelligence agency from material captured by US spy satellites as part of regular intelligence gathering operations.
Those satellite images gave the strongest indication of the Israel Defence Forces preparations - including fighter jets and kinds of ballistic missiles being assembled - for its strike on Tehran, according to The New York Times.
The CIA has declined to comment on the leak and US officials at the time denied any knowledge of where the leaked documents had been sourced from.
Court documents sighted by The Times and other US media revealed that Mr Rahman held a top-secret security clearance with access to sensitive compartmented information. Such clearances are considered standard for CIA employees who deal with classified materials in the course of their work.
The FBI confirmed in October that it was probing the leak and liasing closely with “the Department of Defence and intelligence community” in doing so.
