LONDON, October 24. /TASS/. A US intelligence leak made Israel delay its retaliatory attack on Iran, The Times writes, citing sources.

"The leak of the American documents delayed the attack due to the need to change certain strategies and components," an intelligence source said, according to the newspaper. "There will be a retaliation, but it has taken longer than it was supposed to take," he added.

According to earlier reports, the US launched a probe into the leak of intelligence on Israel’s planned retaliatory attack on Iran. The classified documents, dated October 15 and 16, were first published on the Middle East Spectator Telegram channel. The documents make it clear that only members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance - Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States - were supposed to have access to the information.

Late on October 1, Iran launched a massive ballistic and hypersonic missile attack against Israel in response to the killing of senior officials from the Palestinian movement Hamas, the Lebanon-based Shia movement Hezbollah and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Tehran said that 90% of the missiles hit their designated targets. Israel, in turn, said that Iran had fired some 180 missiles into the country, most of which were intercepted. The Israeli General Staff vowed to choose the right moment to surprise Iran with a counterattack, while Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Israel would see even larger-scale strikes.

The Times notes that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to retaliate in a measured way."