Esmaeil Khatib (1961 – 18 March 2026) was an Iranian cleric and politician who served as the Minister of Intelligence from August 2021 until his assassination in March 2026 during the 2026 Iran war by an Israeli airstrike. He was the eighth official to hold the post. == Early life and education == Khatib was born in Qaen, South Khorasan, in 1961. He studied Islamic jurisprudence in Qom. He was a pupil of leading figures such as Ali Khamenei, Mohammad Fazel Lankarani, Naser Makarem Shirazi and Mojtaba Tehrani. == Career == Khatib held the title of Hujjat al-Islam, which translates as "proof of Islam" or "authority on Islam". Previous posts of Khatib included the head of the Information Protection Center of the Judiciary and the head of Astan Quds Razavi Security. He also worked in the Office of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, as Iran's chief warden, and in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence department and the Ministry of Intelligence. In 1985, Khatib was assigned to the intelligence unit of the IRGC by Mohsen Rezaee, the first commander-in-chief of the corps. Khatib was in the post until 1991. During the tenure of the Minister of Intelligence, Ali Fallahian, Khatib was appointed head of the ministry's regional branch in Qom in 1999. Khatib was appointed chief warden in the Office of Supreme Leader in 2010. Khatib was nominated as the minister of intelligence to the cabinet of president Ebrahim Raisi and was confirmed by the Majlis on 25 August 2021. He received 222 votes in favor. Khatib replaced Mahmoud Alavi in the post. During the summer of 2023, senior security and intelligence officials, including Khatib, met in Mashhad to create a coordinated strategy to counter the "coherent and extensive" planning by the West to undermine national stability and purpose. === Views === Khatib was one of Ali Khamenei's close allies and was also a supporter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He had close connections with other significant religious figures in Iran, mostly his teachers. == Death == Khatib was targeted in overnight Israeli airstrikes on 17–18 March 2026 and, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and the Israel Defense Forces, was killed. Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed Khatib's death on 18 March 2026. == References == == External links == Media related to Esmaeil Khatib at Wikimedia Commons