Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, confirmed the country’s Intelligence Minister, Esmail Khatib, had been killed.
Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said earlier today that Khatib was killed in a strike overnight.
Pezeshkian said in a post on X, mentioning the Secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council and Defence Minister who were also killed in previous Israeli attacks, “The cowardly assassination of my dear colleagues Esmail Khatib, Ali Larijani, and Aziz Nasirzadeh, along with some of their family members and accompanying team, has left us heartbroken.”
Israel claimed on Wednesday to have killed a third senior Iranian figure in 24 hours, stating that its forces had “eliminated” Tehran’s Intelligence Minister, Esmail Khatib, in an overnight strike.
His death follows those of Ali Larijani, the Head of the supreme national security apparatus, and the Commander of the Basij militia, Gholamreza Soleimani.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, who claimed Khatib had been killed, said that he and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had authorised the military to kill any other senior Iranian official being targeted, without the need for additional approval.
According to remarks provided by his office, Katz said during a security assessment, “On this day, significant surprises are expected across all arenas that will escalate the war we are conducting against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon,” adding, “The intensity of the strikes in Iran is increasing.”
According to Israeli sources reported by national media, the Israel Defense Forces have been gathering intelligence that allowed them in the past 24 hours to declare the deaths of three senior Iranian officials, including Khatib, who was close to the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Khatib was appointed as Iran’s Intelligence Minister in August 2021 by the then President, Ebrahim Raisi. A cleric with deep roots in the Islamic Republic’s security apparatus, his career spanned roles within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the judiciary, and he was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2022 over alleged cyber operations targeting Washington and its allies.
The Israeli military said that the intelligence ministry led by Khatib was “the Iranian terrorist regime’s primary intelligence organization, which also played a key role in supporting the regime’s repression and terrorist activities.”
The IDF said that the ministry “possesses advanced intelligence capabilities, overseeing surveillance, espionage, and the execution of covert operations worldwide, particularly against the state of Israel and Iranian citizens.”
The IDF added in a statement posted on X that Khatib had played a significant role in the brutal crackdown on the recent anti-government protests in Iran. His killing removes yet another pivotal figure from the core of Iran’s political and security establishment at a moment of acute crisis, after the deaths of Larijani, a linchpin of the system, and the most senior figure to be killed since Ali Khamenei, and Soleimani, along with other senior paramilitary figures.
Taken together, the three killings suggest Israel retains detailed intelligence on the movements of Iran’s leadership inside Tehran, and is able to act on it, leveraging near-total control of Iranian airspace alongside the US to strike with apparent precision.
Trump Suggests US Could “Finish Off” Iran
Meanwhile, in a post on his Truth Social network on Wednesday, US President, Donald Trump appeared to be suggesting that the US could “finish off” Iran and then leave responsibility for securing the strait of Hormuz to allied countries that depend on it, a familiar nod to his longstanding complaints about burden-sharing.
The US-Israeli war on Iran has now entered its third week, with at least 2,000 people reported killed and no clear end in sight.
The strait of Hormuz remains largely closed; US allies have resisted calls from Trump to help reopen the vital shipping lane, through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass.
“I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Straight?’ That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!”
Donald Trump
After the deaths of Larijani and Soleimani, whose funerals will be held in Tehran on Wednesday, Iran’s Army Chief threatened to launch a “decisive and regrettable” retaliation and responded overnight on Wednesday with renewed missile and drone attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbours and Israel.
Despite heavy Israeli and US strikes on its missile infrastructure, Iran appears to retain the ability to launch targeted attacks. Israel’s medical service said that two people, a couple in their 70s, had been killed in Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv.
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