Esmaeil Khatib, minister of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran, attends the opening ceremony of the Iranian parliament on May 21, 2024. Newsis News Agency [Financial News] Israel announced on the 18th (local time) that it had carried out a targeted airstrike to assassinate the minister of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Israel's defense minister Israel Katz confirmed during a situation assessment meeting at the Ministry of Defense of Israel that "Esmaeil Khatib, minister of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was killed in an overnight airstrike on Tehran." Katz added, "There will be additional major surprise attacks today," and said, "We have prepared 'surprises' that will escalate the war against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah on all fronts." He went on to say, "I have officially granted the Israel Defense Forces full authority to immediately eliminate any senior Iranian official without any additional approval procedures."
From this point on, assassination operations targeting the top leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran are expected to become even more aggressive. Earlier, on the 28th of last month, Israel, together with the United States, carried out a targeted airstrike on Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, and on the 17th eliminated Ali Larijani, secretary-general, and Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Basij militia.
kjh0109@fnnews.com Kwon Jun-ho Reporter
