The fate of the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Esmail Qa’ani, remains uncertain while, according to some sources, he is being questioned as part of the investigations into the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah , and the strike targeting his presumed successor, Hachem Safieddine. Reports also indicate that he suffered a “heart attack” during his interrogation.
Esmaïl Qa’ani would be “detained while investigations continue”, eight Iranian, Iraqi and Lebanese sources told the Middle East Eye (MEE) news site.
Lebanese and Iraqi sources describe Qa’ani as being “under house arrest” and specify that he is being interrogated under the direct supervision of the guide of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His whereabouts also remain unclear, with eight sources saying he is in Tehran, and another in Beirut.
However, Iranian sources cited by Sky News report that the al-Quds commander “had a heart attack during interrogation.” The secretary general of the Arab Islamic Council in Lebanon, Sheikh Mohammad Ali Husseini, declared, for his part, during an interview with the al-Arabiya channel, that Qa’ani “no longer represents a threat to the world” and that “his case has been closed”.
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But where has Esmaïl Qa’ani, leader of the al-Quds Brigades, gone?
“The Iranians seriously suspect that the Israelis have infiltrated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, especially in the Lebanese arena, so everyone is currently under investigation,” according to the commander of an armed faction close to Iran in MEE. “Nothing is certain at the moment. Investigations are still ongoing, and all possibilities are open. »
Qa’ani traveled to Lebanon after the September 27 assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Two senior Iranian security officials previously told Reuters that contact had been lost with him following Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs last week.
Suspicions about the compromise of senior Iranian commanders intensified when Nasrallah’s presumed successor, Hachem Safieddine, was apparently targeted at a meeting of Hezbollah’s shura council in a powerful Israeli strike during the night of October 3 to 4.
Sources close to Hezbollah told MEE that Esmaïl Qa’ani was expected at this meeting at the invitation of Safieddine. However, he withdrew shortly before it began, apologizing. “Israel targeted the venue of this meeting with a larger and more violent attack than the one that targeted Nasrallah. Safieddine’s head was the goal, and no one else. Qa’ani had been invited and should have been present,” said a source close to Hezbollah. “The breach was 100% Iranian, there is no doubt about that. »
The Islamic Republic of Iran named Qa’ani commander of the Guardian’s overseas military and intelligence service after the United States assassinated his predecessor, Kassem Soleimani, in a drone strike in Baghdad in 2020.
The fate of Safieddine and his companions remains uncertain. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Safieddine had been “eliminated,” but an Israeli military spokesman later said he could not confirm his death.
The fate of the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Esmail Qa’ani, remains uncertain while, according to some sources, he is being questioned as part of the investigations into the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah , and the strike targeting his presumed successor, Hachem Safieddine. Reports also indicate that he was a victim…
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