New Delhi, March 18 -- Iran confirmed the killing of its intelligence minister Esmail Khatib on Wednesday. Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian branded Khatib's death a "cowardly assassination."

Israel killed Iran's intelligence minister Esmail Khatib just a day after killing powerful security chief Ali Larijani. It declared on Wednesday that its military is authorised to kill any senior Islamic republic figure it gets in its sights.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorised the IDF to eliminate any senior Iranian official for whom the intelligence and operational circle has been closed, without the need for additional approval," Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz announced.

"We will continue to thwart them and to hunt ...