| Office: | Minister of Intelligence |
| Term Start: | 25 August 2021 |
| Predecessor: | Mahmoud Alavi |
| Birth Place: | Qaen, South Khorasan, Imperial State of Iran |
| Occupation: | Cleric |
| Native Name Lang: | fa |
Esmaeil Khatib (born 1961) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has been serving as the minister of intelligence since August 2021. He is the eighth official to hold the post.
Khatib was born in Qaen, South Khorasan, in 1961.[1] [2] He studied Islamic jurisprudence in Qom. He was a pupil of leading figures such as Ali Khamenei, Mohammad Fazel Lankarani, Naser Makarem Shirazi and Mojtaba Tehrani.
Khatib has the title of Hujjat al-Islam, meaning proof of Islam in English.[3] Previous posts of Khatib included the head of the Information Protection Center of the Judiciary and head of Astan Quds Razavi Security.[2] He also worked in the Office of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, as Iran's chief warden, and in the intelligence department of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as well as in the Ministry of Intelligence.[2]
In 1985 Khatib was assigned to the intelligence unit of the IRGC by Mohsen Rezaei who was the first commander-in-chief of the corps.[1] Khatib was in the post until 1991.[1] During the tenure of the Minister of Intelligence Ali Fallahian Khatib was appointed head of the ministry's regional branch in Qom in 1999.[1] Khatib was appointed chief warden in the Office of Supreme Leader in 2010.[1]
Khatib was nominated as the minister of intelligence to the cabinet of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and was confirmed by the Majlis on 25 August 2021.[4] He received 222 votes in favor.[5] Khatib replaced Mahmoud Alavi in the post.[4]
During the summer of 2023, senior security and intelligence officials, including Khatib, met in Mashhad to create a coordinated strategy to counter the "coherent and extensive" planning by the West to undermine national stability and purpose.[6]
Khatib is one of the close allies of Ali Khamenei and was also a supporter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.[4] He has close connections with other significant religious figures in Iran most of whom are his teachers.[4]