Israel announced this Wednesday the death of Iran's Intelligence Minister, Esmaeil Jatib, in a new bombing against Tehran. The information was made public by the Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, in the context of the offensive that Israel maintains alongside the United States against Iranian targets. The news is also part of a military escalation of enormous scope, where the Iranian supreme leader, Alí Jamenei, and the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Alí Lariyani, have also died.
Katz was very explicit in communicating the attack. "The Iranian Intelligence Minister has been assassinated tonight," he stated, before describing Khatib as a key figure in the Iranian repressive apparatus. According to the statement, the Israeli minister maintained that Khatib "was in charge of the murderous system and internal repression in Iran and of promoting external threats." Furthermore, he issued a direct warning: "Israel's policy is clear and unequivocal: no one in Iran has immunity and everyone is on the wire".
The death of Khatib adds to other recent casualties among high-ranking Iranian officials. Katz highlighted that this attack comes after the death of Ali Larijani and the head of the Basij paramilitary force, Golamreza Soleimani, both killed on March 16 in other bombings. According to the news, those deaths were confirmed hours later by the Iranian authorities themselves, who promised to respond, which makes it clear that the chain of attacks is directly hitting the core of Iran's political and security power.
The Israeli minister also made it clear that he does not foresee an immediate de-escalation, but quite the opposite. “The intensity of the attacks against Iran is increasing. We are in the midst of a decisive victory,” he assured. Along the same lines, he affirmed that Israeli forces “will continue to hunt down all” senior Iranian officials and announced that “significant surprises are expected throughout the day on all fronts” that “will intensify the war” both in Iran and in Lebanon, also in reference to the open front with Hezbollah.
The humanitarian data collected by the information reflects the magnitude of the conflict. Iran has put the number of dead at more than 1,200 due to the offensive by Israel and the United States, while the NGO Human Rights Activists in Iran already raised the figure to more than 3,000 dead on Sunday, “mostly civilians”. In Lebanon, authorities speak of more than 900 dead and more than one million displaced due to Israeli attacks, amidst criticism from the United Nations and several NGOs over the evacuation orders imposed on the south of the country and parts of Beirut.
