Weeks after a trove of classified US intelligence documents were posted on social media, the United Nations issued a rare rebuke of the United States after reports that those documents allegedly revealed the US was spying on the Secretary-General and other high ranking UN officials.

“The UN has made it clear that such actions are inconsistent with the obligations of the United States of America enumerated in the UN charter and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations”, - UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric read in a statement at his noon briefing.

The UN also sent a note to the US Mission at the United Nations in New York regarding the leak, according to Dujarric.

The stern reaction comes after a BBC report last week on a US intelligence leak which accused Guterres of being too soft on Russia. According to the broadcaster, the documents in the leak also includes detail of a private conversation between Guterres and his deputy Amina Mohammed.

“The Secretary-General has been at this job, and in the public eye, for a long time. He’s not surprised by the fact that people are spying on him and listening in on his private conversations”, - Guterres’ office said in a statement.

“What is surprising is the malfeasance or incompetence that allows for such private conversations to be distorted and become public”, it added.