Name: Iran's intelligence minister killed in overnight strike, Israel says | BBC News
Uploaded: 2026-03-18T16:32:47.000Z
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Well, the main news in this conflict engulfing the region is that in the last hour or so Israel's defense minister has said its forces have killed Iran's Minister of Intelligence.

This comes as Iran and its militia allies continue to launch missiles across the Gulf.

There's been no confirmation from Iran of Ismail Khatib's death.

He was appointed as Iran's intelligence minister by the late former President Ebrahim Raisi back in 2021.

He's held senior posts in the Ministry of Intelligence and the Office of the Supreme Leader.

He was also sanctioned by the US treasury for his role as the head of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence for engaging in cyber enabled activities against the United States and its allies in 2022.

Well, this news is emerging as the funeral takes place now of the top Iranian security official Ali Larajani, who is also killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday.

You can see a sea of Islamic Republic flags there as people gather to for his funeral.

Larry Johnny was widely believed to be running the country following the killing of its supreme leader in US And Israeli strikes late last month that sparked the widening war.

Well, let's now cross live to Param Gobadi from BBC Persia.

Parham, just talk us through how how significant Mr. Khatib was for the Iranian regime.

As you mentioned, Israelis have confirmed that Israel Ismail Khatib, Iranian intelligence minister, has been killed overnight during attacks.

Now he was an important figure in Iran's intelligence apparatus and system because he was not only the intelligence minister in Masoud Pezeshkyan, the current president of Iran who is a reformist, but

also before that during Ebrahim Raisi, the conservative hardliner president, he was also the intelligence minister at that administration as well.

So it is usually believed that Iranian supreme and that shows that how what kind of close ties he had with Iran's late supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

As a matter of fact, he was the head of its security, the head of the security of Khamenei's office for some time.

And before that his background comes from the Revolutionary Guard.

He was known to be as one of those people who founded and established the Revolutionary Guards intelligence unit.

So he was and as you mentioned, he was also responsible.

He was believed to be responsible for the crackdown of protests back in 2022 during the movement that was known as Woman Life Freedom Movement.

But if you look at the number of the people who've been assassinated overnight from yesterday to today, Ali Dharjani, the secretary of Iran's national Intelligence, sorry, National, Supreme, National Security, and

then Soleimani, who was the head of the Basij.

So all these people are the people who were involved in, in the crackdown of protests.

Benjamin Netanyahu promised that he's going to pave the way for Iranian protesters, that after the war they can take to the streets and take their, their fate into their own hands, according to him.

So these people who are being targeted are the key people who have been, who played an important role in the crackdown of Iranian protest.

Larry Johnny actually was added to US Sanction this in January after the brutal crackdown of protesters, that thousands of Iranian protesters were killed.

So this seems to be a new phase of the war against Iran.

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Iran's intelligence minister killed in overnight strike, Israel says | BBC News

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