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Iran’s intelligence chief killed in Israeli airstrike

Esmaeil Khatib, an ally of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed in Israeli airstrike in Tehran.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran’s intelligence chief was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tehran overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, the IDF announced Wednesday.

According to an army spokesperson, Iranian Minister of Intelligence Esmaeil Khatib was eliminated in the latest targeted killing by the Israeli Air Force.

Khatib, 64, was a close ally of Iran’s previous Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who appointed Khatib as intelligence minister in 2021.

During his term as Intelligence Minister, Khatib oversaw efforts by Iran’s central intelligence body to promote terrorism abroad and to repress dissent at home.

“The ministry possesses advanced intelligence capabilities and acts as a key arm for surveillance, espionage, and the execution of covert operations worldwide, particularly against the State of Israel and against Iranian citizens,” the IDF said.

As intelligence minister, Khatib played a major role in directing arrests and the killing of protesters, as well as in shaping the regime’s situational assessments during recent internal protests in Iran.

Considered a hardliner within the regime, Khatib also oversaw the brutal crackdown against dissidents during the 2022-2023 protest movement.

Khatib was responsible for Iranian attacks against Israeli and American targets around the world and was involved in selecting targets in Israel for attack during the ongoing conflict.

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A day earlier, IDF warplanes struck several targets in Tehran, killing a number of senior Iranian officials, including the regime’s de facto ruler, Ali Larijani.

Larijani, who served as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, was killed alongside his son and the deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

In addition, the IDF killed Brigadier General Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Basij militia.