Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran, President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed Wednesday, marking the third assassination of a senior Iranian official in two days.
Israel’s military said Khatib played a “significant role” in the “arrest and killing of protesters” during crackdowns on recent demonstrations.
“He led terrorist activities against Israeli and American facilities worldwide,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) added.
🔴ELIMINATED: Esmaeil Khatib, the Iranian terrorist regime Minister of Intelligence, in a targeted strike in Tehran.
Khatib played a significant role during the recent protests throughout Iran, including the arrest & killing of protestors and led terrorist activities against… pic.twitter.com/654lpYCZ1c
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 18, 2026
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed the strike and said the military has standing authorization to target senior Iranian officials without additional approval.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorised the IDF to eliminate any senior Iranian official for whom the intelligence and operational circle has been closed, without the need for additional approval,” Katz said.
Khatib, appointed in 2021 under former President Ebrahim Raisi, studied Islamic jurisprudence in Qom and held several senior intelligence posts, including roles tied to the Office of the Supreme Leader. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2022 for “engaging in cyber-enabled activities against the United States and its allies.”
His killing follows Israeli strikes a day earlier that killed Iran’s Supreme National Security Council chief Ali Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, head of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force.
The assassinations come amid a widening conflict that began Feb. 28 with the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Since then, multiple senior Iranian officials and commanders have been targeted in what Israel and the U.S. describe as efforts to weaken Iran’s leadership.
Pezeshkian condemned the “cowardly assassination” of the military officials and said the country was “in deep mourning” following the killing.
ترور ناجوانمردانه همکاران عزیزم اسماعیل خطیب، علی لاریجانی و عزیز نصیرزاده در کنار بعضی از اعضای خانواده و تیم همراهشان داغدارمان کرد.
شهادت دو عضو کابینه و دبیر شعام و سرداران نظامی و بسیجی را به مردم بزرگ ایران تسلیت میگویم. مطمئنم راهشان محکمتر از قبل ادامه خواهد داشت.— Masoud Pezeshkian (@drpezeshkian) March 18, 2026
Meanwhile, large crowds gathered in central Tehran on Wednesday for the funerals of Larijani and Soleimani, as well as 84 sailors killed earlier this month when a U.S. strike sank an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka.
❗️🇮🇱🇺🇲⚔️🇮🇷 – A massive crowd gathered in Tehran, Iran, for the funeral of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani, his son Morteza, and others killed in the same attack.
Iranian state media published photos showing the coffins of Ali Larijani and his son… pic.twitter.com/i9efaH8rre
— 🔥🗞The Informant (@theinformant_x) March 18, 2026
