An Israeli airstrike killed Esmaeil Khatib, Iran’s minister of intelligence, on Wednesday in yet another massive blow to the Iranian security structure.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed Mr. Khatib’s death on a social media post on Wednesday, writing that his loss, along with others in Tehran’s leadership, leaves Iran in a state of “deep mourning.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel would continue striking key figures in Iran’s security and leadership structure.
“Israel’s policy is clear and unequivocal: no one in Iran has immunity, and everyone is a target,” Mr. Katz wrote Wednesday in a statement.
Mr. Khatib assumed the role of Iran’s top intel officer in 2021, under then-President Ebrahim Raisi.
Unlike previous heads of the Intelligence Ministry, Mr. Khatib brought intelligence experience to the role and used his expertise to target activists, religious minorities, journalists and dissident artists, according to Western assessments.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Mr. Khatib and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence in 2022, alleging that he had orchestrated cyber attacks against U.S. targets.
Still, his tenure saw massive intelligence failures, including the assassinations of several top nuclear scientists.
Mr. Khatib was also a firm ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamaeni, who was killed along with several other Iranian officials and members of his family in the opening hours of the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes.
Mr. Khatib’s death marks the third significant assassination of a top Iranian security official in two days. On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike killed Ali Larijani, the leader of Iran’s National Security Council, and Gholamreza Soleimani, the commander of the Basij militia.
Following the strikes on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was actively seeking to dismantle the remaining Iranian regime and hoped that the people would take to the streets.
Mr. Netanyahu’s comments are a frank confirmation of Israel’s desire to not only dismantle Iran’s capacity to project its power in the Middle East but to create the conditions for a popular uprising against the Islamic republic.
The ruling regime in Tehran, however, seems determined to retain continuity of government. A three-member interim leadership council was quickly formed following the death of Khamaeni on Feb. 28, whose members have thus far evaded death.
Iran’s Assembly of Experts was also able to quickly select and appoint a new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, just over a week after his father was killed. Mr. Khamenei has not made a public appearance since assuming office, but his two public statements indicate he may retain his father’s hardline policy positions.
It’s also unclear if Israel’s strikes, which have repeatedly targeted Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Basij militia infrastructure over the past two weeks, will be enough to inspire a popular uprising.
On Wednesday, thousands of Iranians gathered in Tehran for the public funeral of Larijani, suggesting that the Islamic republic still maintains some public support.
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