The Middle East has been rocked by the death of one of Iran's most influential senior officers. Officials in Tehran have confirmed that Major General Majid Khatami, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence agency, was killed at dawn this morning. According to the Iranian government, the senior military officer was the target of a targeted attack, which the IRGC claims was carried out by intelligence agencies and the armed forces of the United States and Israel. The incident comes at a critical moment, as the two countries are intensely negotiating a possible ceasefire, and this event could completely undo the diplomatic gains made in recent days.

The death of General Khatami, who headed one of the region's most powerful and secretive intelligence agencies, deals a serious blow to Iran's national security. Majid Khatami oversaw key foreign operations and domestic counterintelligence, playing a central role in coordinating the actions of pro-Iranian forces throughout the Middle East. Iranian state media are calling the incident an act of state terrorism and claiming the country's enemies have crossed a "red line." An emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council has already been convened in Tehran to discuss the nature and scale of retaliatory measures. Military analysts fear that the assassination of such a figure will provoke Iran into massive retaliatory strikes against American and Israeli targets.