Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, announced this Wednesday the death of Iran's Intelligence Minister, Esmaeil Khatib, in a bombing launched overnight against the Iranian capital, Tehran.
According to Katz, Jatib was responsible for the country's intelligence system and was at the forefront of internal repression and the promotion of external threats. “Israel's policy is clear and unequivocal: no one in Iran has immunity,” he stated, in a message in which he insisted that all senior Iranian officials are in the crosshairs.
Attacks against the principal Iranian leaders
The death of Khatib occurs, according to Israel, after that of other high-ranking officials of the Iranian regime in recent bombings. Among them, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Alí Lariyani, and the head of the Basij paramilitary force, Golamreza Soleimani, who died on March 16.
Israel frames these attacks within the offensive initiated alongside the United States, in which key figures of the Iranian leadership have also died, including the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Iranian authorities previously confirmed some of these deaths and have promised to respond to the attacks.
Israel announces more attacks
Katz has assured that the intensity of the attacks against Iran is increasing and has argued that the country is “in the midst of a decisive victory.” Furthermore, he has warned that Israeli forces will continue to act against senior Iranian officials without the need for additional authorizations.
In this context, he has advanced that during the day "significant surprises on all fronts" are expected which, according to what he has said, will intensify the war both in Iran and in Lebanon, in reference to the confrontation with Hezbollah.
Justification of the attack
For his part, the Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli Army, Avichai Adrai, has indicated that the operation was a "precise incursion" by the Air Force against the Iranian minister.
According to what he explained, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence is one of the regime's main tools for surveillance, espionage, and covert operations, and Khatib played a key role in the repression of internal protests, including those recorded after the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022.
Likewise, he has accused the minister of supervising activities against Israeli and American targets in different parts of the world.
More than 1,200 dead in Iran and 900 in Lebanon
Iran has put the number of dead at more than 1,200 due to the offensive by Israel and the United States, while a United States-based organization raises that figure to more than 3,000, mostly civilians.
In Lebanon, authorities have reported more than 900 dead and more than a million displaced as a consequence of the Israeli attacks, amidst criticism from the United Nations and international organizations for the scope of the evacuation orders in the south of the country and in Beirut.