Israeli forces have killed Iranian intelligence minister Esmaeil Khatib, making him the third major Islamic Republic figure to have been taken out in the past two days.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Wednesday on X that Khatib, who led Iran’s global terror apparatus, had been “eliminated overnight.”
Khatib, thought to be 65, joins de facto Iran leader Ali Larijani and Basij paramilitary leader Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani as the highest-ranking Tehran officials to be rubbed out since the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of Operation Epic Fury.
The network Khatib spearheaded “targeted current and former US officials, including President Donald Trump,” a senior Israeli official told Fox News, adding: “This man had American blood on his hands.”
In its statement, the IDF explained that Iran’s Intelligence Ministry “possesses advanced intelligence capabilities and serves as a central arm in supervising, spying, and executing covert operations worldwide, particularly against the State of Israel and Iranian citizens.
“As Intelligence Minister, Khatib played a significant role in directing the arrests and killings of protesters and in shaping the intelligence picture during the recent internal protests in Iran. Similarly, he acted against Iranian citizens in the context of the hijab protests in 2022-2023.”
Khatib and Larijani were two of 10 Iranian officials with a $10 million price on their heads, with the State Department offering Iranian citizens the money and the ability to move to America in exchange for information on their whereabouts.
Meanwhile, Israel’s defense chief, Israel Katz, said Wednesday that the Jewish state’s onslaught against Iran and Tehran-backed Hezbollah is not slowing down.
“On this day, significant surprises are expected across all arenas that will escalate the war we are conducting against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon,” he said in a statement to the Times of Israel. “The intensity of the strikes in Iran is increasing.”
Follow The Post’s coverage of the United States’ airstrikes on Iran:
- Follow live updates on the US and Israel’s war with Iran
- Top Iran security official Ali Larijani killed days after goading US and Israel in live interview
- National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent resigns over Iran war
- Israel destroyed more than 60% of Iran’s rocket launchers — as war expected to last at least 3 more weeks
- Ukraine ready to jump in to help US as other American allies drag feet, Zelensky tells Post
Meanwhile, Iran launched retaliatory attacks overnight over the deaths of Larijani and Soleimani, whose funerals are set to take place today.
Amir Hatami, Iran’s army chief, warned the response to the assassinations would be “decisive and regretful” and vowed the deaths of “martyrs” would be avenged.
Senior military official Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, who has been sanctioned by the US Treasury, warned President Trump he must “wait for our surprises” and claimed Iran’s response would be “more devastating than the actions and imagination of the enemy,” according to the official Tasnim News Agency.
A couple in their 70s were killed by an Iranian cluster missile in Ramat Gan – a city located to the east of Tel Aviv.
The couple was just meters away from their safe room when they were killed, according to Tel Aviv District police commander Haim Sargaroff.
A Tel Aviv train station was also damaged, and a vehicle was set ablaze during the strikes.
