Israel Confirms Iran Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib Killed in Tehran Airstrike

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced that Ismail Khatib, Iran's Intelligence Minister, was killed in Israeli airstrikes in the early hours of Wednesday, March 18, 2026 (27 Esfand 1404). The Israeli military confirmed in a statement that other senior officials of the Intelligence Ministry "were eliminated in the same operation." The IDF stated that with Khatib's elimination, "dozens of senior commanders" in Iran have been killed in what it described as a continuation of its "series of assassinations."