Israel Kills Iran Intel Chief, Strikes Gas Field
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- Esmail Khatib, Iran's Intelligence Minister, was killed in an Israeli overnight strike, according to the report, as part of Israel's campaign against Iran's top leadership.
- A day earlier, Israel killed Ali Larijani, a top Iranian security official, and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guard's Basij force.
- Israel reportedly struck an Iranian offshore natural gas field on Wednesday, escalating pressure on what the report calls the region's "economic lifeblood" of energy.
- Iran struck Tel Aviv in direct retaliation, per the article's headline.
- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz promised "significant surprises" to come after the string of killings.
Why it matters: The attacks explicitly targeted both Iran's top security leadership and its offshore natural gas infrastructure, hitting what the report calls the region's "economic lifeblood." With Iran now striking Tel Aviv in direct retaliation, the conflict has expanded from leadership decapitation to energy infrastructure warfare, raising the material stakes for the broader regional economy and energy supply.
