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Iranian state media stated on Wednesday that Esmail Khatib, the country’s Minister of Intelligence, was killed in an Israeli-led operation.
Khatib’s death comes shortly after the targeted killings of Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, and Aziz Nasirzadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij volunteer force, the latest in a string of high-profile assassinations of senior Iranian military and intelligence officers in the last two days.
Earlier, the Israeli Defence Minister claimed responsibility for Khatib’s murder, although first claims were speculative until confirmed by Iranian state media.
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The Israeli Defense Forces, IDF, said in a statement posted on social media that Khatib played a central role in suppressing protests across Iran, including overseeing the arrest and killing of demonstrators during the Mahsa Amini protests of 2022–2023, and directed operations targeting Israeli and American interests internationally.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also confirmed the intelligence minister’s death on X, expressing deep sorrow.
He said: “The cowardly assassination of my dear colleagues Ismail Khatib, Ali Larijani, and Aziz Nasirzadeh, alongside some of their family members and accompanying team, has left us in deep mourning.”
