Esmail Qaani, the elusive commander of Iran’s Quds Force, emerged looking very much alive on state television, ending weeks of speculation about his fate. His appearance came during a solemn memorial; ceremony in Iran for Abbas Nilforoushan, a key Quds Force figure killed in Beirut alongside Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah. Rumors had swirled around Qaani's disappearance, with claims ranging from his assassination in Beirut to conspiratorial whispers of his interrogation over alleged Israeli ties – dismissed by Iran as “fake news.”
Qaani appearing live
Lebanese network Al-Mayadeen reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, planned to honor Qaani, mirroring recent accolades given to Iran’s Aerospace Force commander after a missile attack on Israel. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf labeled the rumors of Qaani's demise as “false news,” asserting his continued activity.
The intrigue deepened with reports from Sky News Arabic, citing Iranian sources, alleging Qaani was under investigation for an intelligence breach and suffered a heart attack during questioning. His office chief, suspected of Israeli links, was implicated. This narrative was fueled by Qaani's absence following a powerful assault in Beirut’s Dahieh district, targeting Hezbollah’s Hashem Safieddine, slated as Nasrallah’s successor.
While the IDF has yet to confirm Safieddine's elimination, Israeli Prme Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated as much. A Reuters sourcereported Qaani’s presence in Dahieh during the attack, although he reportedly missed a pivotal meeting with Safieddine. Further fueling suspicions, Qaani was last seen publicly alongside Hashem Safieddine’s brother Abdullah in Tehran.
The New York Times added to the mystery, reporting Qaani’s Beirut trip aimed to assist Hezbollah leaders reeling from recent attacks in Lebanon. A Revolutionary Guards member in Beirut told the paper that Iranian silence on Qaani stoked panic among junior Guards. Since October 7, Qaani reportedly traversed the Iraq-Syria-Lebanon axis, meeting with Nasrallah and Fuad Shukr, both slain in Beirut. Suspicion around him deepened, sources claimed, when Qaani skipped a Hezbollah meeting in Dahieh that Israel later targeted, having initially planned to attend with his office chief, Ihsan.
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