A former CIA analyst, Asif Rahman, admitted guilt on Friday to leaking classified US intelligence documents detailing Israeli military preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran.
Rahman, 34, had worked for the CIA since 2016 and held a top-secret security clearance. He was apprehended in Cambodia by the FBI in November.
He pleaded guilty in a Virginia federal court to two charges of willfully retaining and transmitting national defence information, offences that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
In October, Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for the assassination of senior figures in Hamas and Hezbollah, organisations backed by Tehran. Israel responded later that month with a series of military strikes on Iranian targets.
Court documents reveal that on October 17, Rahman printed two classified documents regarding an unnamed US ally’s planned military actions against a foreign adversary.
He then photographed the documents, manipulated the images to obscure their source, and shared them with unauthorised individuals.
Rahman attempted to cover his tracks by shredding the documents, destroying electronic devices, and discarding them in public trash bins.
The leaked information, shared on Telegram by an account called “Middle East Spectator,” detailed Israeli preparations, including aviation exercises and munitions movements at an airport.
The documents, produced by the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, reportedly caused Israel to delay its planned strike on Iran.
Rahman is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15, facing potentially severe penalties for breaching national security.
