Is the Israeli attack on Tehran “in the air”? A Telegram channel linked to Iran leaked US documents on Israeli forces’ preparations for an attack, the Axios news portal reveals.

According to the Israeli journalist, senior US officials expressed great concern over the leak of two US intelligence documents on Israeli preparations for an attack on Iran, which were published on the Middle East Spectator Telegram account.

The US Department of Defense and the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the leaked documents, but did not deny their authenticity.

The timing of the leak came as Israel was finalizing preparations to retaliate against Iran in response to the October 1 missile attack, and was seen as an attempt to influence or disrupt it.

A senior Israeli official commented that the Israeli security system is aware of the leak and is taking it very seriously.

The documents included a report by the US Defense Department’s Optical Intelligence Service, which was distributed to the US intelligence community three days ago, which described operations carried out in recent days at several Israeli Air Force bases, including the transfer of advanced weaponry that, according to the report, was intended for an attack on Iran.

The report also says that according to information obtained through wiretapping, the Israeli Air Force conducted an exercise this week involving fighter jets and UAVs in possible preparation for an attack on Iran.

The leak came on Friday when the Middle East Spectator claimed to have obtained documents from a source in the US intelligence community about Israeli preparations to attack Iran.

The Telegram channel in question mainly publishes pro-Iranian propaganda content, and its X account profile explicitly states that its operators are based in Iran.

“Iranian agents who tried to assassinate me will pay”

However, in a new message after a Hezbollah drone targeted his home in Caesarea, Benjamin Netanyahu declared that an IDF attack on Iran is inevitable. The damage to Netanyahu’s house is visible to the naked eye.

“The agents of Iran who tried to assassinate me and my wife today made a bitter mistake,” the Israeli prime minister said. It is noted that Mr. Netanyahu and his family were in Jerusalem at the time of the attack.

He made clear that the attack would not deter him from continuing the war, and that anyone who harmed Israelis would pay a “heavy price.”

“We will continue to exterminate your terrorists, we will bring back our hostages from Gaza, we will bring back our residents in the north,” pledged the Israeli prime minister.

“The drone was Iranian-made, the orchestrator was Iran itself,” earlier Israeli sources told SKAI’s Stavros Ioannidis, however there was concern that Israeli air defenses were penetrated.

Damage to Netanyahu’s home from the strike, which prompted Israel’s immediate retaliation in Beirut, is visible to the naked eye.

Mr Netanyahu spoke with Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson. The three said they were shocked by the attempt to assassinate the prime minister with a UAV.

The announcement of the Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz:

“The Iranian proxies who attempted to assassinate Prime Minister Netanyahu and his family today have once again exposed the true face of Iran and the satanic axis it leads.

I fully support the Prime Minister’s statement and stress: Israel will continue to strike terrorists and their donors with force and determination, wherever and whenever necessary, until we achieve all our goals.

Israel’s enemies will pay a heavy price for any attempt to harm our citizens, soldiers and leaders. We are committed to bringing back the hostages, bringing the people of the North back home and creating a new security reality that will guarantee our existence for generations to come.”