Elements of the policy are "unlawful because they violate the First and Fifth Amendments of the United States Constitution," a judge in Washington said in response to a lawsuit brought by The New York Times.

US media and a host of international news outlets including AFP, AP and Fox News declined to sign the new policy in mid-October, resulting in the stripping of their Pentagon credentials.

The ruling comes amid the ongoing US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran that began on February 28.

The court said that while national security must be protected, it was vital for the public to have information in light of the US war with Iran and its recent intervention in Venezuela.

"It is more important than ever that the public have access to information from a variety of perspectives about what its government is doing -- so that the public can support government policies, if it wants to support them; protest, if it wants to protest," the ruling said.

"And decide based on full, complete, and open information who they are going to vote for in the next election."

The new policy, enforced in October last year, was the latest in a series of moves restricting journalists' access to information from the Defense Department, the nation's single largest employer, with a budget in the hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

The department had announced earlier last year that eight media organizations including The Times, The Washington Post, CNN, NBC and NPR had to vacate their dedicated office spaces in the Pentagon, alleging that there was a need to create room for other -- predominantly conservative -- outlets.

It also required journalists to be accompanied by official escorts if they go outside a limited number of areas in the Pentagon -- another new restriction on the press.

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THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY