Israel Has Killed Esmaeil Khatib, Iran’s Intelligence Minister
#Israel #Iran #Esmaeil Khatib #assassination #intelligence minister #tensions #covert operations
📌 Key Takeaways
- Israel assassinated Iran's Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib
- The killing escalates tensions between Israel and Iran
- The incident highlights ongoing covert operations in the region
- Iran is likely to respond, raising security concerns
📖 Full Retelling
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it had killed Esmaeil Khatib in an airstrike. Iran confirmed the killing.
🏷️ Themes
Geopolitical Conflict, Assassination
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Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Supported by SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Iran’s Intelligence Minister Killed in an Airstrike The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it had killed Esmaeil Khatib in an airstrike. Iran confirmed the killing. Listen · 2:00 min Share full article By Isabel Kershner and Amelia Nierenberg March 18, 2026 Updated 10:35 a.m. ET Esmaeil Khatib, the Iranian intelligence minister, became the country’s latest high-ranking official to be targeted in the U.S.-Israeli military campaign. Israel’s military said on Wednesday that it had killed Mr. Khatib in an overnight airstrike. The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, confirmed the killing in a social media post later in the day, calling it “a cowardly assassination.” Mr. Khatib is the latest top Iranian official to be killed since the United States and Israel launched their joint attack last month. An airstrike killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war. The Israeli military said Mr. Khatib’s ministry oversaw “surveillance, espionage, and the execution of covert operations worldwide,” particularly against the state of Israel. He also played a significant role in the brutal crackdown on the recent anti-government protests in Iran, and led his ministry’s “terrorist activities against Israeli and American targets around the world,” the Israeli military said. In 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on both Mr. Khatib and Iran’s intelligence ministry. The ministry, under Mr. Khatib’s leadership, conducted “cyber espionage and ransomware attacks in support of Iran’s political goals,” the U.S. Treasury Department said. Mr. Khatib had also been a member of Iran’s previous conservative government and oversaw mass arrests and crackdowns during a women-led uprising in 2022 that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police. He was appointed intelligence minister in 2021, and previously held key positions in Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Gua...
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