LIVE: Iranian Intelligence Minister Khatib Killed: Israel
U.S. Central Command said the strikes targeted Iranian anti-ship cruise missile facilities that posed a risk to international shipping passing through the strategic waterway.
Tehran: Israel’s defense minister said on Wednesday that the Israeli military killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.
Israel Katz announced Khatib’s killing and said that “significant surprises are expected throughout this day on all the fronts,” without elaborating.
Khatib’s killing follows Israel killing top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force.
What to know:
- India has sent its first consignment of medical assistance to Iran as the ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States entered its 19th day on Wednesday. Read more here.
- About 90 ships including oil tankers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the outset of the war with Iran and it is still exporting millions of barrels of oil at a time when the waterway has been effectively closed, according to maritime and trade data platforms. Read more here.
- A top security official in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration resigned over the war in Iran on Tuesday, saying the country had posed no imminent threat to the United States. Joe Kent, who headed the National Counterterrorism Center, is the first senior official in Trump's administration to resign over the conflict, now in its third week. Read more here.
- Israel's military killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in an overnight strike , and Iranian state media confirmed the military also killed Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani as he met in a combat tent with commanders of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force . Both men were key to Iran’s violent crackdown on protests in January. Read more here.
- The United States said it pounded Iranian missile sites near the key Strait of Hormuz as the Islamic republic fired missiles Wednesday around the region, vowing to avenge the killing of its powerful security chief.
Live Updates
- 18 March 2026 7:09 AM IST
We will Pursue, Find, Neutralise Him: Israel on Mojtaba Khamenei
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will continue targeting anyone who “poses a threat to the state of Israel,” including Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, military spokesperson Effie Defrin has said. He added that the Israeli military currently has no information about Khamenei’s whereabouts. - 18 March 2026 7:09 AM IST
Iran Confirms Death of Security Chief Larijani
Iran's Supreme National Security Council on Tuesday confirmed the death of its chief Ali Larijani, after Israel said it had killed him in an air strike. "The pure souls of the martyrs embraced the purified soul of God's righteous servant, Martyr Dr. Ali Larijani," the council said, adding that his son and his bodyguards had died with him.
