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 The White House ordered tighter security on Monday to prevent leaks like the release of more than 250,000 State Department cables that have embarrassed the U.S. government and some of its allies.

Sunday's release of documents obtained by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks exposed the inner workings of U.S. diplomacy in recent years, including candid assessments of world leaders and disclosures on issues such as Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

U.S. authorities also were conducting a criminal investigation of the leak of classified documents, which WikiLeaks provided to five media groups that published reports on them, the Justice Department said on Monday.

Among the revelations was that Saudi King Abdullah repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran's nuclear program. The documents cited him as saying: "cut off the head of the snake," according to the Guardian newspaper of Britain.

The New York Times also reported impolitic comments about foreign leaders, including a description of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's head of state, as playing "Robin to (Prime Minister Vladimir) Putin's Batman."

The White House, which harshly condemned the release and said the disclosures may endanger U.S. informants abroad, ordered government agencies to tighten procedures for handling classified information.

The new procedures would ensure "that users do not have broader access than is necessary to do their jobs effectively," and would put restrictions on the handling of classified material, according to a directive from the White House Office of Management and Budget released on Monday.
Read More: U.S. to tighten security after WikiLeaks disclosure