ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran’s newly-appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Friday offered condolences to the family and colleagues of Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, who was killed in an Israeli strike earlier in the week.

In a message addressed to President Masoud Pezeshkian, Khamenei extended his condolences to Pezeshkian, the government board, colleagues in the Ministry of Intelligence, and the family of Khatib over the death of the “diligent Minister of Intelligence and unknown veteran.”

“His absence must be compensated by the intensified efforts of other officials and employees of that sensitive ministry, and security must be taken away from internal and external enemies and granted to all compatriots,” read the supreme leader’s letter.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Khatib was killed in an airstrike in Tehran. Iran later confirmed the minister’s death.

Khatib joins a growing list of high-profile Iranian officials killed during the ongoing war with the US and Israel.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Friday announced that its spokesperson, Ali Mohammad Naini, was killed “in the cowardly American-Zionist terrorist attack at dawn on the final day of the holy month of Ramadan.”

Naini was described as a prominent figure in June’s 12-Day War and the current conflict.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday. Larijani rose to prominence during the current war, and was labeled by Israel as Iran’s de facto leader following Ali Khamenei’s death.

The new supreme leader has yet to make a public appearance, raising concerns among pro-regime groups and fueling global speculation about his well-being, with some suggesting he may already be dead.