Iranian President Announces Death of Intelligence Minister, Esmaeil Khatib

JAKARTA - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday (18/3) confirmed the death of Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib.

"The cowardly murder of my dear colleagues, Esmaeil Khatib, (Secretary of the Iranian Security Council) Ali Larijani and (Defense Minister) Aziz Nasirzadeh and a number of their family members and the people who accompanied them, made us sad," President Pezeshkian said on Wednesday (18/3).

Previously, the president of the State of the Mullahs had vowed to retaliate for the killing of Larijani, the Iranian presidential office said on Tuesday (17/3).

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier also said that Larijani was killed in an Israeli attack in Tehran. Larijani's death was later confirmed by his office.

"Of course, a harsh retaliation awaits these criminal terrorists who, during their aggression, shed the blood of the martyrs of the holy land of Iran," Pezeshkian said in a statement.