Iran's intelligence minister Esmail Khatib has been killed, the country's president has confirmed. Masoud Pezeshkian said the "cowardly assassination" had left Iran "in deep mourning", after Israel said on Wednesday it had killed Khatib in an air strike. It comes a day after Israel announced it had killed Iran's top security official, Ali Larijani, and head of the paramilitary Basij force, Gholamreza Soleimani, in strikes. Since the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war on 28 February, multiple senior Iranian officials and commanders have been killed in efforts by Israel and the US to weaken the regime's leadership. In a post on X, Pezeshkian extended his condolences to the Iranian people over the officials' deaths, adding he was "certain their path will continue more steadfastly than before". Speaking to the BBC, a woman from Tehran said the "killing of Khatib might help the people since he was among the leadership".
Published: March 18, 2026 5:05 pm
Source: BBC — Read original