Israeli Defence Minister confirms the killing of Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, authorising further strikes on senior Iranian officials without additional approval.
JERUSALEM: Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed on Wednesday that the country’s forces had killed Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.
Katz stated that the military was now authorised to kill any high-ranking Iranian official in its sights without seeking further approval from the political leadership.
“The intensity of the strikes in Iran is moving up a notch, and we are in the midst of a decisive stretch,” Katz said in a statement.
He added that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had authorised the military to target any senior Iranian official once intelligence and operational conditions were met.
“We will continue to thwart and hunt them all down,” Katz declared, promising significant surprises in all arenas to escalate the war against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Israeli military stated that Khatib had played a significant role in the recent protests in Iran, regarding both the arrest and killing of protesters.
It also accused him of leading the Ministry of Intelligence’s terrorist activities against Israeli and American targets worldwide, including during the current conflict.
This killing follows the recent assassinations of Iran’s powerful security chief Ali Larijani and Basij paramilitary force head Gholamreza Soleimani.
The US State Department had offered a USD 10 million reward on Friday for information about Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei and other top officials, including Khatib.