Israel said on Wednesday it had killed a third senior Iranian figure in 24 hours, stating that its forces had \u201celiminated\u201d Tehran\u2019s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, in an overnight strike.<\/p>\n
Khatib\u2019s death follows those of Ali Larijani<\/a>, the head of the supreme national security apparatus, and the commander of the Basij militia, Gholamreza Soleimani. Iran confirmed his death.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s defence minister, Israel Katz, said he and the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had authorised the military to kill any other senior Iranian official being targeted, without the need for additional approval.<\/p>\n \u201cOn this day, significant surprises are expected across all arenas that will escalate the war we are conducting against Iran and Hezbollah<\/a> in Lebanon,\u201d Katz said during a security assessment, according to remarks provided by his office. \u201cThe intensity of the strikes in Iran is increasing.\u201d<\/p>\n Israeli warplanes struck central Beirut in the early hours of Wednesday, destroying apartment blocks in the Zuqaq al-Blat district. Photograph: Khalil Ashawi\/Reuters<\/p>\n The US-Israeli war on Iran has now entered its third week, with at least 2,000 people reported killed and no clear end in sight. The strait of Hormuz remains largely closed; US allies have resisted calls from Donald Trump to help reopen the vital shipping lane, through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass.<\/p>\n In a post on his Truth Social network on Wednesday, the US president appeared to be suggesting that the US could \u201cfinish off\u201d Iran and then leave responsibility for securing the strait of Hormuz to allied countries that depend on it, a familiar nod to his longstanding complaints about burden-sharing.<\/p>\n \u201cI wonder what would happen if we \u2018finished off\u2019 what\u2019s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don\u2019t, be responsible for the so called \u2018Straight?\u2019,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThat would get some of our non-responsive \u2018Allies\u2019 in gear, and fast!!!\u201d<\/p>\n According to Israeli sources reported by national media, the Israel Defense Forces have been gathering intelligence that allowed them in the past 24 hours to declare the deaths of three senior Iranian officials, including Khatib, who was close to the new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/a>.<\/p>\n Khatib was appointed as Iran\u2019s intelligence minister in August 2021 by the then president, Ebrahim Raisi. A cleric with deep roots in the Islamic Republic\u2019s security apparatus, his career spanned roles within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the judiciary, and he was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2022 over alleged cyber operations targeting Washington and its allies.<\/p>\n The Israeli military said the intelligence ministry led by Khatib was \u201cthe Iranian terrorist regime\u2019s primary intelligence organization, which also played a key role in supporting the regime\u2019s repression and terrorist activities\u201d.<\/p>\n The ministry \u201cpossesses advanced intelligence capabilities, overseeing surveillance, espionage, and the execution of covert operations worldwide, particularly against the state of Israel and Iranian citizens\u201d, the IDF said.<\/p>\n Khatib had played a significant role in the brutal crackdown on the recent anti-government protests in Iran, the IDF added in a statement posted on X.<\/p>\n His killing removes yet another pivotal figure from the core of Iran\u2019s political and security establishment at a moment of acute crisis, after the deaths of Larijani \u2013 a linchpin of the system, and the most senior figure to be killed since Ali Khamenei \u2013 and Soleimani, along with other senior paramilitary figures.<\/p>\n Taken together, the three killings suggest Israel retains detailed intelligence on the movements of Iran\u2019s leadership inside Tehran, and is able to act on it, leveraging near-total control of Iranian airspace alongside the US to strike with apparent precision.<\/p>\n A couple in their 70s were killed in an Iranian strike on Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, on Wednesday. Photograph: Amir Levy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n After the deaths of Larijani and Soleimani, whose funerals will be held in Tehran on Wednesday, Iran\u2019s army chief threatened to launch a \u201cdecisive and regrettable\u201d retaliation and responded overnight on Wednesday with renewed missile and drone attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbours and Israel.<\/p>\n Despite heavy Israeli and US strikes on its missile infrastructure, Iran appears to retain the ability to launch targeted attacks. Israel\u2019s medical service said two people, a couple in their 70s<\/a>, had been killed in Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n According to Israeli officials, the couple were killed by Iranian cluster munitions<\/a>, which Tehran has been firing at Israel since the start of the war. Even when intercepted by Israel\u2019s air defence systems, such weapons can remain highly dangerous: their submunitions disperse mid-air and may fall over urban areas, detonating on impact or remaining unexploded, posing a lethal risk long after interception.<\/p>\n