Iran confirms Minister of Intelligence was killed in air strike

Minister Esmail Khatib is the latest in a series of senior Iranian officials killed by Israeli or U.S. bombardment

Published: March 19, 2026 7:08am

Iran’s leadership continues to be killed off by Israeli and U.S. strikes on the country, according to news reports, with Iranian Minister of Intelligence Email Khatib the latest casualty. 

Iran confirmed Khatib had been killed in an air strike

Khatib’s death comes a day after the country’s top security official, Ali Larijani, and Gholam Reza Soleimanu, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s volunteer force were killed in an Israeli raid

News reports said Larijani’s death was the most significant in the conflict since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the first day of bombardment on Feb. 28. 

Since then, U.S. officials have said that the country’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, may have also been severely injured or killed by strikes, though those reports remain unconfirmed. 

We don’t know if he’s dead,” President Donald Trump said of Mojtaba Khamenei.

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