Israel's Defense Minister claimed Wednesday that the Israeli military killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib in overnight airstrikes.
Israel Katz announced Khatib's assassination and said that "significant surprises are expected throughout this day on all the fronts," without elaborating.
Khatib's killing follows the Israeli killing of top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force, Gholamreza Soleimani.
The U.S. Treasury had sanctioned Khatib in 2022, over allegations that the Intelligence Ministry were "engaging in cyber-enabled activities against the United States and its allies."
Khatib "directs several networks of cyber threat actors involved in cyber espionage and ransomware attacks in support of Iran's political goals," the Treasury said at the time.
The Treasury also called Iran's Intelligence Ministry in another round of sanctions "one of the Iranian government's main security services, which is responsible for serious human rights abuses."
It also alleged that under Khatib's leadership, the Intelligence Ministry cracked down on a large number of human rights defenders, women's rights activists, journalists, filmmakers and members of religious minority groups.
