A former CIA employee who admitted to leaking sensitive intelligence regarding Israel’s potential military actions against Iran has been sentenced to just over three years behind bars, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
Asif William Rahman, who began working for the CIA in 2016, confessed earlier this year to unlawfully copying, printing, and sharing classified material on multiple occasions, including several incidents in 2024.
The leaks occurred during a period of heightened hostility between Israel and Iran, when both nations were engaged in a tense back-and-forth involving covert and overt strikes.
At the time, Israel was reportedly gearing up for a retaliatory strike against Iranian targets in response to a missile assault that Tehran claimed was retribution for the killing of senior Hamas figure Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital.
Rahman had held a “Top Secret” clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI), a designation reserved for highly classified operations. His access and employment were terminated after he was apprehended in late 2024.
Some of the documents Rahman leaked, which outlined Israeli military plans, were eventually shared online via a pro-Iranian Telegram channel named “Middle East Spectator.”
The 34-year-old Virginia resident, originally from Vienna, was taken into custody in Cambodia, according to details filed in court.
“Asif Rahman violated his position of trust by illegally accessing, removing, and transmitting Top Secret documents vital to the national security of the United States and its allies,” said Erik Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a statement issued Wednesday.
{Matzav.com}