Iran: Esmail Khatib

Role

Intelligence minister (2021-)

Trained as a cleric, Esmail Khatib has had an extensive career in intelligence, holding key leadership positions across a range of executive institutions. A close ally of Rahbar (Supreme Leader) Ali Khamenei, he is loyal to the revolution and takes a hard-line approach to intelligence policy.

Sanctions

Canada, United States

family background

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Education

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Career

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Politics

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Iran’s clerics prepare for an eternity in power

Issue 1185 - 27 February 2024

They may not be popular, but clerics dominate contemporary Iran, its politics and economy to an extent that most Iranians might have thought inconceivable in the years immediately after the 1979 revolution. The latest series of GSN profiles focuses on senior clerics who occupy key positions across Iran’s political system...

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Officers and allies consolidate the IRGC’s hold over Iranian politics, security and business

Issue 1184 - 08 February 2024

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC)’s influence over Iranian politics and business has become an integral element of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s domination and the organisation may well provide a successor to the supreme leader. A new series of GSN profiles shows the extent that military and political leaders...

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Issue 1171 - 09 June 2023