Israeli Defence Minister Annoucned That Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib Has Been Killed

 

Dubai: Israel’s defence minister said on Wednesday that the Israeli military killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib. Israeli Defence Minister Katz announced Khatib’s killing and said that “significant surprises are expected throughout this day on all the fronts,” without elaborating. Khatib’s killing follows Israel's killing of top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force.

Katz also said, "On this day, significant surprises are expected across all arenas that will escalate the war we are conducting against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon,” according to remarks provided by his office, and added that he and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have allowed the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to eliminate any senior Iranian figure without the need to seek additional permission.

 

The U.S. Treasury had sanctioned Khatib in 2022, over the Intelligence Ministry “engaging in cyber-enabled activities against the United States and its allies.” Khatib “directs several networks of cyber threat actors involved in cyber espionage and ransomware attacks in support of Iran’s political goals,” the Treasury said at the time.

The Treasury also called Iran’s Intelligence Ministry in another round of sanctions “one of the Iranian government’s main security services, which is responsible for serious human rights abuses.”

 

“Under his leadership, the (Intelligence Ministry) has cracked down on a large number of human rights defenders, women's rights activists, journalists, filmmakers, and members of religious minority groups,” it said. The Intelligence Ministry “has also aggressively persecuted individuals reporting on human rights abuses and violations in Iran, as well as their families, and subjected detainees to torture in secret detention centres during his tenure.”