Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the deaths of Iran's Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani in airstrikes on Tehran. Meanwhile, pro-regime Iranian sources circulated unverified reports regarding the assassination of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has announced the deaths of two senior Iranian officials following overnight military operations in the Iranian capital. According to Iran International, a London-based opposition outlet highly critical of the Islamic Republic, Katz confirmed the death of Ali Larijani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. The channel noted that the Israeli army had previously reported targeting Larijani, but his death had remained unconfirmed until Katz's announcement.
In addition to Larijani, Israeli forces reportedly eliminated Esmail Khatib, Iran's Minister of Intelligence. Vahid Online, a widely followed independent citizen journalism channel, reported that Katz announced Khatib was killed during airstrikes early Wednesday morning. Emphasizing the escalating military campaign, Iran International quoted Katz directly, who stated, "The intensity of attacks against Islamic Republic positions in Iran is increasing."
Pro-regime and Islamic Republic-aligned media aggregators adopted a distinctly hostile and defensive posture when covering the news. خبرفوری ࡆ اخبارفوری مذاکره ࡆ جنگ فوری and خبرفوری جنگ🚨اخبارفوری امریکا فوری framed the operations as targeted assassinations. Adhering to standard state-aligned terminology, the channels referred to Katz as the Israeli Minister of War rather than Defense Minister. The latter channel dismissively framed the announcement by stating the Israeli Minister of War merely claimed the assassination of Khatib, projecting skepticism over the operational success.
Amidst the reports of high-level Iranian casualties, these same pro-regime channels circulated counter-narratives suggesting vulnerabilities within Israel's own leadership. Khabar Fori broadcasted unverified rumors indicating that some sources are reporting the assassination of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's Minister of National Security, though no confirming details or evidence were provided to substantiate the claim.
The Farsi-language channels exhibit starkly different editorial framing. Opposition channels (Iran International, Vahid Online) report Katz's statements using neutral journalistic attribution (confirmed, announced, targeted). Conversely, pro-regime channels systematically refer to Israel's defense minister as the 'Minister of War' and heavily use the term 'assassination/terror' (ترور) to describe the strikes, which has been preserved in the English text without sanitization or scare quotes, per instructions.