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Overnight, a targeted Israeli operation resulted in the death of Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Esmaeil Khatib, as confirmed by a high-ranking Israeli source to Fox News on Wednesday.
The source elaborated that this operation was made possible through a collaborative intelligence effort between the United States and Israel. Khatib was reportedly a key figure in orchestrating schemes against American officials.
“This individual was directly responsible for activities that endangered American lives. His operations specifically aimed at both current and former U.S. leaders, including ex-President Donald Trump,” the source stated.
Previously, Khatib had narrowly escaped a significant assault targeting Iran’s top officials at the “Defense Council” compound in Tehran. This attack, part of Operation Epic Fury, claimed the lives of over 40 Iranian leaders within a mere 40 seconds, according to the Israeli official.
In an image taken on August 17, 2024, Esmaeil Khatib, Iran’s Minister of Intelligence, is seen alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian during a parliamentary session in Tehran. (Photo by 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.
People attend a protest against the Iranian regime, in Berlin, Germany, 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.Â
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 nonpartisan 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.
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/West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
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.