{"id":247468,"date":"2021-09-22T09:04:09","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T14:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=247468"},"modified":"2023-02-01T04:42:14","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T03:42:14","slug":"who-is-esmail-khatib-irans-minister-of-intelligence-mois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/terrorism-a-fundamentalism\/who-is-esmail-khatib-irans-minister-of-intelligence-mois\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Esmail Khatib, Iran\u2019s Minister of Intelligence (MOIS)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"esmail-khatib-iranian-minister-intelligence-mois\"<\/p>\n

Almost no one doubts that Ebrahim Raisi\u2019s cabinet appointments have nothing to do with talent or expertise and that the crew was installed for only one purpose: to dodge the current crises and thwart the regime\u2019s fall. Among the ministries and their underqualified heads, there\u2019s one exception: the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) is now headed by a person who perfectly mirrors the entire establishment of terror and suppression.<\/p>\n

Like many members of Ebrahim Raisi\u2019s cabinet, Esmail Khatib is coming out of the shadows. Virtually unknown to the West, his name does well generate shivers among the ruling class. In fact, Khatib\u2019s record during the last 43 years has been tied to the cleansing and annihilation of clerics, intelligence agents, and guards who dared to pose a threat to Ali Khamenei\u2019s reign and heir. For many years, Khatib has worked with Hossein Taeb<\/a>, the chief of the IRGC intelligence unit, and his brother Mehdi Taeb<\/a>, the head of the Ammar headquarters who reports to Mojtaba Khamenei directly.<\/p>\n

\"hossein-taeb-esmail-khatib
During a meeting between Esmail Khatib and IRGC Intelligence Unit chief Hossein Taeb on Sep 6, 2021, both stressed collaboration and consolidation of the intelligence efforts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Born in Qaen, South Khorasan province in 1961, Khatib was 19 years old when the clergy grabbed power in Iran following the revolution that toppled the Pahlavi dynasty. It\u2019s been said that Khatib studied Islamic jurisprudence under Ali Khamenei, the current supreme leader.<\/p>\n

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps<\/a> (IRGC) was founded in 1980, with the goal to safeguard the supreme leader\u2019s rule. Even though Ruhollah Khomeini, then supreme leader, had handpicked the highest among the ranks of Iran\u2019s classic army (called the Artesh), he still didn\u2019t trust the organization to overcome the main threat to his regime: domestic dissent.<\/p>\n

Mohsen Rezaei<\/a>, the first commander-in-chief of the IRGC, recruited Esmail Khatib and put him in the IRGC Intelligence Unit where he served from 1985 to 1991. Several accounts indicate that Khatib played a critical role in the killing and oppression of Kurdish dissidents in the early \u201880s. Not much is known from his conduct during these years but his appointment in 1991 to lead the \u2018Special Department for Movements\u2019 within the MOIS office in Qom is quite telling. His mandate: spying and eliminating clerics and everyone else that opposed the ruling elite.<\/p>\n

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Report: There are 30,000 Iranian intelligence workers<\/div><\/div>
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