Then-Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib (center) sits with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (CR) before a speech to lawmakers in the capital Tehran, August 17, 2024, as he defends his cabinet choice.
Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images
The Israeli military said Wednesday that Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib was killed in a “targeted strike” in Tehran, marking the third assassination of a senior official in just two days.
“Khatib played a significant role in recent protests across Iran, including arresting and killing protesters and carrying out terrorist activities against Israelis and Americans around the world,” the Israeli military said. said in a post on social media.
“Similarly, he operated against Iranian citizens during the Mahsa Amini protests (2022-2023),” they added.
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian confirmed Khatib’s death in a post on.
“The cowardly assassination of my dear colleagues Ismail Khatib, Ali Larijani and Aziz Nasirzadeh, as well as some members of their family and the team that accompanied them, has left us in deep mourning,” Pezeshkian wrote.
This comes after Israel announced on Tuesday that Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, and the commander of Iran’s Basij forces, Gholamreza Soleimani, had both been killed. Iran’s official news agency later confirmed Soleimani’s killing, the Associated Press reported.
Thousands of Iranians attend a funeral ceremony for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani, commander of Basij Gholam Reza Soleimani, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and 84 Iranian navy personnel killed in Israeli and U.S. attacks on Enghelab Square in Tehran, Iran, March 18, 2026.
Fatemeh Bahrami | Anadolu | Getty Images
According to AP, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council issued a statement confirming that Larijani was killed “along with his son Morteza Larijani and the head of his office, Alireza Bayat, as well as several guards.”
The Israeli military said Khatib was appointed to his position in 2021 by the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in strikes targeting high-ranking Iranian officials at the start of the war on February 28.
Iran has since retaliated by attacking its Gulf neighbors and targeting ships attempting to pass through the country. Strait of Hormuz, strategically vital.
Read more news about the US-Iran warThe US-Israeli war against Iran entered its 19th day on Wednesday, with Israel launch a series of strikes on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, as it continues its offensive against the Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Iran and its allied military groups have launched a series of retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, amplifying fears of a sprawling regional crisis.