Quds Force Commander.. Iranian Officials Confirm Loss of Contact

Quds Force Commander.. Iranian Officials Confirm Loss of Contact
The contradiction in statements issued by Iranian officials regarding Qa'ani's status reflects a state of confusion within Tehran's decision-making corridors, and may indicate challenges in managing t
October 7, 2024, 12:39 am

طهران ، 3 كانون الثاني (يناير) ، إيرنا - عيّن المرشد الأعلى الإيراني آية الله سيد علي خامنئي العميد إسماعيل قاني خلفًا للفريق قاسم سليماني قائدًا لفيلق القدس التابع للحرس الثوري الإيراني ، ليحل محله قائدًا لقوات القدس في البلاد.

The fate of the Iranian Quds Force commander, Esmail Qa'ani, has sparked widespread controversy in political and security circles, following recent Israeli raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut. Two high-ranking Iranian security officials revealed that contact with Qa'ani has been lost since the strikes last week.

According to one official, Qa'ani was present in the southern suburbs of Beirut at the time of the raid that reportedly targeted Hashim Safi al-Din, the likely candidate to succeed Hassan Nasrallah. However, the official confirmed that Qa'ani did not meet with Safi al-Din before the attack.

For his part, the second official reported that Qa'ani headed to Lebanon in the wake of Nasrallah's assassination, indicating that Iranian authorities lost contact with him since the alleged strike on Safi al-Din.

These statements come in stark contrast to previous assurances from Iranian officials. Abbas Golru, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in the Iranian Parliament, stated that Major General Qa'ani is in good health, calling for not paying attention to widespread rumors.

A source in the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard also denied reports about Qa'ani being injured, killed, or even detained in Lebanon. The source claimed that Qa'ani is in Tehran, and that he appeared after Nasrallah's assassination at the office of Hezbollah's representative in the Iranian capital.

It's worth noting that Qa'ani, 67, who took command of the Quds Force succeeding Qasem Soleimani in 2020, was last seen on September 29, two days after Nasrallah's assassination. However, his absence from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's sermon last Friday, commemorating Nasrallah, raised many questions.

Some observers attributed Qa'ani's absence to precautionary measures recently taken by Tehran, in anticipation of a potential Israeli response to the recent Iranian missile attack, especially in light of some Iranian circles' suggestions of the possibility of Israel assassinating Iranian military leaders as part of its available response options.

Levant-Agencies

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