On August 17, 2024, Iran’s current Minister of Information Esmail Khatib (C) sits down with President Masoud Pezeshkian (CR) to defend his cabinet selections before giving a speech to members of parliament in the capital Tehran.
Atta Kenare | AFP | Getty Images
The Israeli Defense Forces announced on Wednesday that Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib was killed in a “targeted attack” in Tehran, the third high-level assassination in just two days.
“Khatib played a key role in recent protests across Iran, including arresting and killing protesters, and led terrorist operations against Israelis and Americans around the world,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a social media post.
“Similarly, he also acted against Iranian nationals during the Mahsa Amini protests (2022-2023),” they added.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed Khatib’s death in a post on X.
“We are deeply saddened by the despicable assassination of my dear colleagues Ismail Khatib, Ali Larijani, and Aziz Nasirzadeh, along with their families and part of their team,” Pezeshkian wrote.
This came after Israel announced on Tuesday that Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, and Iran’s Basij military commander, Gholamreza Soleimani, had both been killed. Iran’s official judicial news agency later confirmed Soleimani’s killing, according to the Associated Press.
Thousands of Iranians attend the funeral of Iranian National Security Council Supreme Secretary Ali Larijani, Basij commander Gholam Reza Soleimani, and 84 Iranian naval personnel killed in Israeli and U.S. attacks on March 18, 2026, in Enhrab Square in Tehran, Iran.
Fatemeh Bahrami | Anadolu | Getty Images
Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security issued a statement confirming that Larijani was killed “along with his son Morteza Larijani, his office director Alireza Bayat, and several security personnel,” according to the Associated Press.
The IDF announced that Khatib was appointed to the position in 2021 by Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who was killed in an attack targeting senior Iranian officials at the start of the war on February 28.
Since then, Iran has retaliated by attacking its Gulf neighbors and targeting ships attempting to transit through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S.-Israel-led war against Iran entered its 19th day on Wednesday, with Israel launching a series of attacks on the Lebanese capital Beirut as it continues its offensive against the Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Iran and its allies have launched a series of retaliatory attacks across the Middle East, raising fears of a widespread regional crisis.
