Israelis say they killed Iranʼs intelligence minister. He previously survived because he slept through an important meeting

On March 18, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that Israeli aircraft killed Iranʼs Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib.

A post about this was published on the IDFʼs social media.

He had headed the agency since 2021, and before that held several positions in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including in the Corpsʼ intelligence. Iran has not officially confirmed his death.

Israeli investigative journalist Ronen Bergman reported that the intelligence minister was scheduled to attend a meeting of key Iranian intelligence and military commanders on the morning of February 28.

The Israelis attacked it in the first minutes of the war and killed almost the entire Iranian command in one place. Then Khatib was lucky, he slept through the meeting.

The day before, the Israelis killed Basij Corps commander Gholamrez Soleimani and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani in an airstrike. Their deaths were officially confirmed in Iran.

War in the Middle East

On the morning of February 28, the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. These attacks killed Iranʼs Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and almost the entire military leadership of the country — about 40 key high-ranking officials. A new ayatollah was elected on March 8, and he was Mojtaba Khamenei (the son of the deceased Ali Khamenei).

Iran, in response to the US and Israeli attacks, has begun shelling US bases in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE and firing missiles at Israel. Some Iranian drones and missiles have hit infrastructure and residential areas in Arab countries.

The conflict has brought tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow sea corridor between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, to a near standstill. About a fifth of the world’s oil exports pass through it — tens of millions of barrels a day. Oil, gas, and precious metals have skyrocketed in price.

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