Proposed minister of intelligence in Iran: Who is Esmail Khatib?

Iran's Minister of Intelligence, Esmail Khatib, has been re-nominated to continue in his role under newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, despite being sanctioned twice by the United States.

On September 9, 2022, the US Treasury Department added him, along with the Ministry of Intelligence, to its sanctions list due to his involvement in cyber activities targeting the United States and its allies.

Shortly after this, Khatib was subject to another round of US sanctions on September 22, 2022. Alongside Iran’s Morality Police and its senior leaders, he was added to the US Treasury’s list of individuals for “being a person acting on behalf of the Government of Iran who is responsible for or complicit in, ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens or residents, or the family members of the foregoing, on or after June 12, 2009.”

He had been a vocal critic of the 2009 Green Movement protests, labeling them as "sedition" and praising the Islamic Republic's crackdown on dissent.

The Iranian Green Movement, led by Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, emerged after Iran's 2009 presidential election and continued until early 2010. Protesters demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office, alleging that the election results were fraudulent.

Born in 1961, Khatib was a founding member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence organization during the early 1980s. In 1991, he was appointed head of the Intelligence Office in Qom, operating under the alias Esmail Vaezi.

Following his tenure in Qom, Khatib was appointed head of security for Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, in the city. He later moved to the judiciary, where he led the Judiciary’s Protection and Intelligence Center from 2012 to 2019.

Khatib’s tenure as minister of intelligence

Khatib was appointed Minister of Intelligence in August, 2021, under late President Ebrahim Raisi's administration. His leadership has seen a significant increase in the Ministry's budget, which he claims has enhanced Iran’s ability to counter Israel. He also boasted about dismantling what he described as a "Mossad infiltration network" responsible for assassinations and sabotage within Iran.

In spite of the massive budget, however, on July 31, following the new president's inauguration, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas' political bureau, was assassinated in Tehran.

Khatib attributed the attack to Israel, though Israel has not claimed responsibility, claiming it was carried out with US approval. Tehran continues to promise a harsh retaliation for the brazen attack on Iranian soil as global powers attempt to mediate.

Khatib has also addressed the threat posed by a "wandering ISIS" following the decline of the group in Syria, asserting that Iran's security agencies have successfully contained this danger.

"After the events in Syria subsided, we naturally faced a wandering ISIS that was directed toward us," he said last month, adding that "with the strategic planning of security agencies and the synergy developed within the security community, this threat was contained.

On January 3, during the fourth anniversary of the death of former IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, two explosions in the southern city of Kerman resulted in 91 deaths and over 200 injuries. Khatib admitted to the failure of local security measures in what was the worst terror attack in the history of the Islamic Republic.

Following the explosions, Khatib said, "Despite all the efforts and actions of the Kerman provincial authorities and the members of the Provincial Security Council, we witnessed this tragic disaster and enemy plot, which caused us great embarrassment before the leader and the people."

In addition to crackdowns on dissidents, throughout his tenure, Khatib has repeatedly issued threats against Iran International, for reflecting news and views critical of the Islamic government. In November 2022, amid widespread protests in Iran, Khatib labeled the network a "terrorist organization" and warned that its journalists would be pursued by Iranian intelligence.

He reiterated these threats in September 2023, stating that Iran would take action against the network "whenever and wherever it deems necessary," despite international support for the media outlet.

Last year, the London offices of the network were forced to temporarily relocate to Washington as British security agency MI5 said it and the police services could no longer guarantee the safety of the staff.

Pouria Zeraati, the television host of the "Last Word" program on Iran International, was attacked by a group of unidentified individuals as he exited his residence in London in March as the threat continues.

While the motive is unclear, the attack came just a few months after a plot by the Iranian regime to kill 2 other Iran International journalists was revealed.