Blinken urges Israel to avoid 'greater escalation' in Iran response; as Israel demands support

Blinken urges Israel to avoid 'greater escalation' in Iran response; as Israel demands support
by AFP Staff Writers
Tel Aviv (AFP) Oct 23, 2024

Visiting US top diplomat Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Israel should avoid "greater escalation" in its response to Iran's October 1 missile attack.

"It's also very important that Israel respond in ways that do not create greater escalation," the secretary of state told reporters in Israel before leaving for Saudi Arabia, the next stop on his Middle East tour.

Israel minister says expects US support 'following attack on Iran'
Jerusalem (AFP) Oct 22, 2024 - Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told visiting US top diplomat Antony Blinken that his government expects Washington's support when it attacks Iran in response to a missile strike earlier this month.

"The United States' stance with Israel following our attack on Iran will strengthen regional deterrence and weaken the axis of evil," Gallant said according to a statement from his office, referring to Tehran-aligned armed groups in the Middle East, after Israel has vowed retaliation for the October 1 missile attack.

Investigation continues into leak of Israeli preparations for possible attack on Iran
Washington DC (UPI) Oct 22, 2024 - The FBI and Department of Defense are investigating the publication of two classified documents discussing Israel's preparations to attack Iran and focusing on who might have had access to them.

FBI investigators are working with DOD investigators and the U.S. intelligence officials to determine who had access to the documents and published them Friday on the Telegram messaging app.

The FBI confirmed the investigation Tuesday and said the DOD and intelligence community are assisting but did not offer further comment in a prepared statement made Tuesday.

The National Security Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency created the two documents that were dated Oct. 15 and 16.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Monday confirmed the documents were released and said no information suggests more documents were compromised or might be released.

Federal investigators suspect someone with internal access to the documents leaked them instead of someone obtaining them online through cyber espionage.

They were published Friday on a Telegram account named "Middle East Spectator" and discuss Israel moving its munitions in one document and Israeli Air Force exercises using air-to-surface missiles.

A Sky News Arabic report published Tuesday named a senior staffer in Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's office as the source of the leaked documents, but Pentagon officials denied she is a person of interest in the investigation.

Ariane Tabatabai is Iranian-American and the chief of staff of the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and is not the subject of interest regarding the claims of leaked classified documents, a Pentagon official said Tuesday.

"To my knowledge, this official is not a subject of interest," Air Force press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told media Tuesday afternoon.

Ryder said the FBI is investigating the "alleged leak" of classified documents and working with the Department of Defense and intelligence officials.

Tabatabai is the director of curriculum and a visiting assistant professor of security studies at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.