President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, has confirmed the killing of Iran’s Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatibi on his X account, APA reports.
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14:57
Following Defense Minister Israel Katz’s announcement, the IDF also confirms that Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmaeil Khatib, was killed in an airstrike in Iran overnight, APA reports, citing The Times of Israel.
Khatib, who had served as intelligence minister since 2021, was targeted by Israeli Air Force fighter jets in the capital, Tehran.
The military says the Intelligence Ministry is “the Iranian terrorist regime’s primary intelligence organization, which also played a key role in supporting the regime’s repression and terrorist activities.”
The ministry “possesses advanced intelligence capabilities, overseeing surveillance, espionage, and the execution of covert operations worldwide, particularly against the State of Israel and Iranian citizens,” the IDF says.
As the intelligence minister, the IDF says Khatib “played a significant role during the recent protests throughout Iran, both with regards to the arrests and killing of protesters, as well as shaping the regime’s intelligence assessment,” and during protests in 2022-2023 over the killing of Mahsa Amini.
The IDF says Khatib also led the ministry’s “terror activities against Israeli and American targets around the world, as well as activities directed against targets within Israel” during the current war.
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14:24
Defense Minister Israel Katz says Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmaeil Khatib, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran overnight, adding that “significant surprises” are expected today, APA reports, citing The Times of Israel.
“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 says during a security assessment, according to remarks provided by his office.
“The intensity of the strikes in Iran is increasing. The Iranian intelligence minister Khatib was also eliminated overnight,” he says.
Katz says that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have “authorized the IDF to [eliminate] any senior Iranian figure… without the need for additional approval.”
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12:23
Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib was the target of overnight strikes in Tehran, APA reports, citing Iran International.
No information was immediately available about his fate.
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