Iran confirms assassination of intelligence minister Esmail Khatib in Israeli airstrike

US uses 5,000-pound bombs on targets near Strait of Hormuz: Two Israelis killed in Iran missile barrage on Tel Aviv: Trump now says US does not need allies’ help: Lebanon toll rises to 866 killed, million displaced: Iranian projectile hits Australian military HQ in UAE: UN watchdog says projectile struck Iran nuclear power plant

Published: 09:05 AM, 18 Mar, 2026
Featured News, Middle East
Iran confirms assassination of intelligence minister Esmail Khatib in Israeli airstrike
Caption: Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib.
AFP

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed on Wednesday that Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib had been killed in the war with the US and Israel, blasting a "cowardly assassination".

In a post on X, Pezeshkian did not say who had carried out the attack but earlier Israel's defence minister announced that Khatib had been "eliminated".

"The cowardly assassination of my dear colleagues Esmail Khatib, Ali Larijani and Aziz Nasirzadeh, along with some of their family members and accompanying team, has left us in mourning," he said, referring to Iran's recently killed security chief and defence minister.

Earlier, Israeli Defenfe Minister Israel Katz claimed that Khatib was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran overnight, adding that “significant surprises” are expected today.

“On this day, significant surprises are expected across all arenas that will escalate the war we are conducting against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon,” he said during a security assessment.

“The intensity of the strikes in Iran is increasing. The Iranian intelligence minister Khatib was also eliminated overnight,” he said. Katz said that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have “authorized the IDF to eliminate any senior Iranian figure… without the need for additional approval.”

US targets missile sites near Hormuz

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.

Two people died from the missile barrage inside Israel, whose defences have helped it avoid mass casualties since it launched the war alongside the United States.

With Iran mostly closing off the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway for one-fifth of the world's oil, the US military said it brought out some of the heaviest bombs in its arsenal to penetrate adjacent missile sites.

The United States dropped several 5,000-pound (2,250 kg) bombs -- estimated to cost $288,000 each -- on "hardened Iranian missile sites" near the coast that posed a threat to international shipping, Central Command said.

Iran has sought to extract a heavy toll on the global economy in retaliation for the US-Israeli attack, including by driving up the cost of oil.

US President Donald Trump earlier Tuesday fumed that American allies, which have largely distanced themselves from his war, were not lining up behind the United States to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

But Trump earlier Tuesday boasted that the US military did not need its allies, writing on his Truth Social platform: "WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!"

- 'National awakening' -

Israel announced Tuesday that it killed security chief Ali Larijani, a key force leading Iran since the death of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the first strikes of the war on February 28.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards in a statement said that the "pure blood of this great martyr, like other dear martyrs, will be a source of honour, power and national awakening against the front of global arrogance and international Zionism".

Iran will hold funerals Wednesday for Larijani and another powerful figure killed Tuesday by Israel, Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force, the Fars and Tasnim agencies reported.

Israel vowed also to target Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since the ruling clerics chose him to succeed his father.

"We don't know about Mojtaba Khamenei, we don't hear him, we don't see him, but I can tell you one thing: we will track him down, find him, and neutralise him," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told reporters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again called for the end of the Islamic republic, although he and Trump have stopped short of saying that is their goal.

The overthrow of Iran's authorities by the people "will not happen all at once, it will not happen easily. But if we persist in this -- we will give them a chance to take their fate into their own hands," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

In contrast to Mojtaba Khamenei, Larijani, 68, had walked openly with crowds at a pro-government rally last week in Tehran.

"He has effectively been the figure in charge of the regime's survival, its regional policy and its defence strategy," David Khalfa, co-founder of the Atlantic Middle East Forum, told AFP.

"It's the supreme leader who gives the order, but he is the one who carries it out. He is the right-hand man."

- Deaths near Tel Aviv -

In Israel, medics said two people died after an Iranian missile barrage caused extensive damage to a building near the commercial hub Tel Aviv.

AFP journalists also heard loud explosions in Dubai, the glitzy economic hub whose sense of security has been shaken by persistent Iranian drones and missiles.

In rare dissent within Trump's ranks, Joseph Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation with an open letter.

Kent wrote that Iran posed no "imminent threat" to the United States, which he said started the war "due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby".

Trump denounced the criticism in personal terms, calling Kent "very weak on security".

Israel earlier said it had also targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a strike in Iran.

Since the October 7, 2023 cross-border attacks by Hamas into Israel from Gaza, Israel has targeted the leaders of its enemies.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Tuesday called the latest assassinations "truly illegal".

- Sleeping in cars -

The war has taken a particularly heavy toll on Lebanon, where Israeli strikes early Wednesday again hit the heart of Beirut.

Hezbollah had struck Israel after Khamenei's killing, prompting a massive Israeli air and ground campaign reminiscent of past wars.

More than a million people have been displaced across Lebanon, where Israeli strikes have killed 886 people since March 2, Lebanon's health ministry says.

In the southern city of Sidon, displaced people were sleeping in their cars, according to an AFP team on the ground.

"Lots of people are coming every day to ask for shelter but we don't have space anymore, we can't accept them," said Jihan Kaisi, the director of an NGO that runs a school-turned-shelter, where more than 1,100 people are crammed together.

- 12 killed in Lebanon attacks -

The Israeli military called on residents of a central Beirut neighbourhood to evacuate early Wednesday, warning of an imminent attack on the Lebanese capital targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Earlier Wednesday, Lebanon's health ministry said that two Israeli strikes on central Beirut without warning killed at least 12 people and wounded 24 others.

The Israeli military also said it was striking Hezbollah targets in the area around the southern Lebanese city of Tyre in response to rocket fire towards Israel.

- Iran funerals -
Iran is due to hold funerals Wednesday in Tehran for slain security chief Ali Larijani and another powerful figure killed by Israel, Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force.

- Lebanon car hit -
An Israeli strike also hit a car in the centre of Sidon, southern Lebanon's largest city, state media reported.

An AFP correspondent at the scene said the strike hit near the city's civil defence headquarters and a seaside road where many displaced people are sleeping in their cars. Israel has issued an evacuation call for residents of four southern towns.

- Iraqi Kurdistan blasts -
At least four explosions were heard in the city of Erbil in the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, AFP journalists reported.

It was not immediately clear what the target was. The city, the capital of the Kurdistan region, is home to a major US consulate complex, and its airport houses US-led coalition troops.

- Oil prices fall -
Oil prices sank and stocks rose in Asia and Europe.

Benchmark US oil contract, West Texas Intermediate, was down more than four percent in Asian trading, at $92.11, after jumping almost three percent Tuesday.

- Iran executes alleged 'spy' -
Iranian authorities have executed a man convicted of spying for Israel, the judiciary said on Wednesday, in the first such execution announced since the war broke out.

"The death sentence of a spy for the Zionist regime, who had been providing images and information, about the country's sensitive locations to Mossad officers was carried out this morning," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

- Gulf nations intercept drone, missile attacks -
An Iranian projectile struck near Australia's military headquarters for the Middle East in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

The Saudi defence ministry said it had intercepted a ballistic missile near Prince Sultan Air Base, which houses US military personnel.

Saudi Arabia also intercepted eight drones while Kuwait's air defences responded to a rocket and drone attack, according to authorities from both countries.

Qatar's defence ministry also said it intercepted a missile attack on Wednesday as blasts were heard in Doha.

Iranian projectile hits Australian HQ

An Iranian projectile hit near Australia's military headquarters for the Middle East in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday but caused no injuries, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

It landed at 9:15 Sydney time (2215 GMT Tuesday) near the Al Minhad base.

"I can confirm that no Australian personnel were injured, and everyone is absolutely safe," Albanese told reporters.

The projectile caused "minor damage" to an accommodation block and a medical facility, the Australian leader said.

Al Minhad Air Base -- just 24 kilometres south of Dubai -- has hosted Australian forces since 2003 and serves as the primary hub for the country's operations in the Middle East.

Up to 80 Australians are on-base at any given time, according to the Australian military.

The base was previously hit by an Iranian drone attack following the February 28 US-Israeli strikes that killed Tehran's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Projectile struck Iran nuclear plant

The UN nuclear watchdog said Wednesday that Iranian authorities had reported projectile impact at the country's only operational nuclear power plant that caused no damage.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "has been informed by Iran that a projectile hit the premises of the Bushehr NPP on Tuesday evening", the Vienna-based agency posted on social media. "No damage to the plant or injuries to staff reported."

Agency head Rafael Grossi "reiterates his call for restraint during the conflict to avoid any risk of a nuclear accident", the statement said.

The Bushehr plant in southwestern Iran has the Islamic republic's only operational nuclear power reactor and was first connected to the grid in 2011, according to the IAEA.

Tehran has been under biting US sanctions since 2018, when Washington withdrew from a deal that granted Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear activities designed to prevent it from developing an atomic warhead.

Iran has always denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons, insisting that its activities are entirely peaceful.

- Kuwait, Saudi Arabia report Iran attacks -

Saudi Arabia intercepted six drones and Kuwait's air defences responded to a rocket and drone attack, authorities from both countries said on Wednesday.

- Ukrainian anti-drone experts -

Over 200 Ukrainian anti-drone military experts were in several Middle East countries to help defend against Iranian-designed drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

- US embassy struck -

The US embassy in Baghdad was the target of a drone and rocket attack, a security official said.

The strike sparked a fire on embassy grounds, the source said, while a witness reported seeing the fire from her balcony.

- Crowds gather in Iran -

Crowds gathered in Iranian cities after authorities called for nationwide rallies to defy enemy "plots", state television said.

The rallies come on a night usually marked by Persian new year (Nowruz) festivities, with the authorities apparently keen to prevent any anti-government dissent at a time when people traditionally take to the streets.

- NATO, Britain 'mistakes' -

US President Donald Trump said that NATO was making a "foolish mistake" on Iran, after the military alliance's members largely rebuffed his calls to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic.

Trump also said he was disappointed with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's response, telling reporters: "He hasn't been supportive, and I think it's a big mistake... I'm disappointed with Keir -- I like him, I think he's a nice man, but I'm disappointed."

- Israel says striking Basij -

Israel's military said it was striking positions of Iran's Basij paramilitary force around Tehran, after announcing it had killed the volunteer militia's top commander.

- US counterterrorism official quits -

A top US counterterrorism official, Joseph Kent, resigned to protest the war. "I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran," Kent, who was appointed by Trump, said in his resignation letter.

Trump said Kent was "weak on security" and it was a "good thing" he quit.

- Lebanese troops killed -

Lebanon's military said that three soldiers were killed in Israeli air strikes in the country's south.

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli attacks have killed 912 people in the country since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted on March 2, up from 886 a day earlier.

- Hezbollah denial -

Hezbollah denied it had any members in Kuwait after the Gulf country announced the arrest of 14 Kuwaitis and two Lebanese nationals allegedly affiliated with the group over a "sabotage plot".

Kuwait's interior ministry said Monday that the group "aimed to destabilise the country's security and recruit individuals to join the terrorist organisation". It said weapons, camera drones and communication devices were seized.

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