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 Pressure commander, Esmail Qaani, had not been heard from since late final week.
One official instructed 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 will not announce Safieddine’s destiny till the seek for him was over.
Safieddine was reportedly a probable successor to Nasrallah, who died when Israel launched a strike on Dahiyeh on Sept. 27.
The Iranian official instructed the Related Press that Iran and Hezbollah have been unable to contact Qaani after the U.S. assassinated his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike in 2020.
The second Iranian official instructed 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.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow on the Basis for Protection of Democracies, a non-partisan analysis institute specializing in international coverage and nationwide safety, instructed Fox Information Digital that the upper up an official is, the tougher 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,” Taleblu 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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Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani was requested about experiences that Qaani could have been killed within the Israeli airstrike, and he mentioned the outcomes of the strikes have been nonetheless being assessed.
Shoshani mentioned the assault late final week was towards Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut.
Qaani’s Quds Pressure is liable 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.