Israel says Iran’s intelligence minister killed in Tehran strike

Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Esmaeil Khatib, was killed in an overnight airstrike in the Iranian capital, Tehran, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Wednesday, one day after eliminating the country’s top security chief, Ali Larijani, and the commander of the Basij paramilitary force, Gholamreza Soleimani, in separate attacks in Iran.

“The intensity of strikes in Iran is escalating — we are in the midst of a decisive phase. Israel’s policy is clear and unequivocal: no one in Iran has immunity, and everyone is in the crosshairs,” Katz said during a security assessment, according to his office.

He also warned of “significant surprises” that will further escalate the Israeli war against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran has not yet confirmed Khatib’s death.

The killing of Khatib, a prominent cleric and politician who was seen as close to late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, marks another escalation in the war pitting Israel and the United States on the one hand, and Iran on the other, which continues to expand across the region in its third week.

In Lebanon, at least 12 people were killed and 27 others wounded in a series of intense Israeli airstrikes in the Basta and Zoqaq al-Blat neighborhoods of central Beirut early on Wednesday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Wednesday that NATO is deploying another US Patriot missile defense system to Turkey’s southern province of Adana, home to the Incirlik Air Base. The move follows the deployment of a Patriot system to the Malatya province last week.

The deployment comes after NATO air defense systems intercepted three missiles fired from Iranian territory towards Turkey since the war began on Feb. 28, according to Turkish authorities.