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Senior Pentagon employee allegedly behind leak of Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran, Pentagon denies it

In late October 2023, Tabatabai was named for her involvement in a covert influence campaign led by Tehran’s Foreign Ministry.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A Pentagon official told Sky News Arabia that a director of the assistant secretary of defense’s office who has been accused of spying for Iran in the past was behind the leak of Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran.

Ariane Tabatabai, born in Iran, is the director of the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict.

In late October 2023, Tabatabai was named for her involvement in a covert influence campaign led by Tehran’s Foreign Ministry.

Nonetheless, she kept her security clearance and access to top-secret information.

However,  on Tuesday the Pentagon denied reports that Tabatabai was named as a person of interest behind the leak.

“To my knowledge, this official is not a subject of interest,” said Press Secretary of the Air Force, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters.

Tabatabai was previously an essential aide for envoy Robert Malley, whose ties with Iran caused him to lose his position and have his security clearance revoked.

However, Tabatabai retained her position and is currently suspected as the Pentagon employee behind the leak of Israel’s plans to respond to Iran’s launch of 180 missiles and drones on October 1.

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The Biden administration brought on Tabatabai to assist with nuclear negotiations with Iran but left over disagreements with the team leader.

Since leaving her original position, she has remained a policy advisor at the Department of Defense. However, she is suspected by Republicans in Congress and Jewish publications of spying for Iran.

Earlier this week, a leak of Israel’s retaliation plan was published on the Telegram social media channel.

According to Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan News, U.S. officials have confirmed the authenticity of the documents and apologized to Israel for the leak.

However, Axios reported that the Pentagon and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the matter.

Kan News reported that the documents, dated October 15 and October 16, respectively, are marked top secret and for viewing by the “Five Eyes” only: the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Axios reported that the documents include a Visual Intelligence report by the Department of Defense National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency that was circulated among U.S. intelligence agencies earlier last week.