Israel Says It Has Taken Out Another Key Iranian Minister

Israel's defense minister said on Wednesday that the Israeli military killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib. Israel Katz announced Khatib's killing, reports the AP, and said that "significant surprises are expected throughout this day on all the fronts," without elaborating. Israel's latest killing follows those of top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force, Brig. Gen. Gholamreza Soleimani.

The US 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. In a separate round of sanctions, the Treasury also called Iran's Intelligence Ministry "one of the Iranian government's main security services ... 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 centers during his tenure."