The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) abroad military-intelligence service, who traveled to Lebanon final month after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike, has not been heard from since final week’s strikes on Beirut, Iranian officers say.
Reuters reported that two senior Iranian safety officers confirmed that Iran’s Quds Drive commander, Esmail Qaani, had not been heard from since late final week.
One official informed the wire Qaani was within the southern suburbs of Beirut throughout a missile strike that reportedly focused senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, although he was not assembly with the Hezbollah chief.
An official from Hezbollah mentioned Israel was not letting them seek for Safieddine after the bombing in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday. The group additionally mentioned it could not announce Safieddine’s destiny till the seek for him was over.
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IRGC chief Esmail Qaani has not been heard from since Israel launched an assault on Hezbollah in Beirut final week. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto through Getty Photos)
Safieddine was reportedly a possible successor to Nasrallah, who died when Israel launched a strike on Dahiyeh on Sept. 27.
The Iranian official informed the Related Press that Iran and Hezbollah had been unable to contact Qaani after the U.S. assassinated his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike in 2020.
The second Iranian official informed the AP that Qaani traveled to Lebanon after Nasrallah was killed, including that authorities had not been capable of contact him for the reason that strike on Safieddine.
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Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike that hit the southern suburb of Beirut on Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Picture/Hussein Malla)
An Iranian official informed Fox Information Digital that the upper up an official is, the more durable it’s to hide.
“Regardless of the verdict is on Qaani’s whereabouts, the truth that the regime has not been capable of produce him to quell rumors means he’s both injured or in hiding,” the official mentioned. “Israel is urgent its benefit in Lebanon towards commanders of Iran’s menace community, resulting in command-and-control points and chaos that generates rumors like these.”
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An IDF profile image reveals Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah, who the IDF confirmed was killed in a strike. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)
Israeli navy spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani was requested about reviews that Qaani might have been killed within the Israeli airstrike, and he mentioned the outcomes of the strikes had been nonetheless being assessed.
Shoshani mentioned the assault late final week was towards Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut.
Qaani’s Quds Drive is accountable for overseeing the dealings with Tehran and allied militias like Hezbollah throughout the Center East.
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IRGC commander Brig. Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan, was killed with Nasrallah on Sept. 27 when Israel’s bombs struck his bunker.
Reuters contributed to this report.
