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Israel killed Iran’s Minister of Intelligence Esmaeil Khatib in a precision strike overnight, a senior Israeli official told Fox News Wednesday.
The official said the strike was enabled by a joint U.S.-Israeli intelligence effort and described Khatib as a central player in plots targeting American officials.
“This man had American blood on his hands. His network specifically targeted current and former U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump,” the official added.
Khatib had previously survived a sweeping strike on Iran’s senior leadership at the “Defense Council” compound in Tehran during the opening phase of Operation Epic Fury, where more than 40 Iranian leaders were killed in roughly 40 seconds, according to the official.
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Iran’s Minister of Intelligence Esmaeil Khatib (center) sits with President Masoud Pezeshkian (center right) before a speech to members of parliament in Tehran on Aug. 17, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
He was reportedly the only person to survive the initial attack.
“Today, he met the fate of his combatant comrades,” the official told Fox News.
Israel has targeted and killed several senior Iranian leaders since the start of the war, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Gen. Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Basij unit, and Mohammad Pakpour, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Israel Defense Forces said Khatib played a central role in directing crackdowns on protesters, including arrests and killings during recent unrest and the nationwide demonstrations sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini.
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People attend a protest against the Iranian regime, in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the Islamic republic’s notorious “morality police.” (Markus Schreiber/ AP Photo)
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Khatib in 2022 for his role in leading Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), which U.S. officials said was responsible for cyberattacks against the United States and its allies.
Treasury said the ministry oversaw global cyber operations targeting government and private-sector organizations, including disruptive attacks on critical infrastructure.
United Against Nuclear Iran, a non-partisan advocacy group, said Khatib enlisted in the IRGC at the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980 and studied under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.
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Hossein Amir Abdollahian, (right) and Esmaeil Khatib (left) attend a vote of confidence in the cabinet of President Ebrahim Raisi at the Islamic Consultative Assembly in Tehran, Iran, on Aug. 25, 2021. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
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He joined MOIS in 1985 or 1986 after it was established in 1983.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program last week offered up to $10 million for information on senior Iranian security figures tied to the IRGC and its networks, including Khatib.