Iran dismisses speculation about fate of absent Quds Force commander

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

The commander of the overseas arm of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, who has not been seen in public for more than a week, is alive and well, according to his deputy, refuting speculation that he was killed by Israeli air strikes targeting Hizbollah in Lebanon.  

Esmail Ghaani, who leads the Guards’ overseas military service, the Quds Force, was reportedly in Lebanon to offer help to Tehran’s regional ally Hizbollah around the time that Israel ramped up its offensive against the militant group. Israel has targeted its leaders with waves of air strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut and elsewhere across the country.

The group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, was killed by Israeli strikes that flattened at least six residential blocks in the Dahiyeh suburb of the Lebanese capital late last month. Israel also targeted Hashem Safieddine, the heir apparent to Nasrallah, in strikes on Dahiyeh last week.

However, Brigadier General Iraj Masjedi, Ghaani’s deputy for co-ordination affairs, told local reporters on Monday that there was no need for the Revolutionary Guards to release any official statement to shut down the rumours.

“He’s healthy and well and doing his job,” Masjedi said of Ghaani, while declining to provide further details.

Ghaani assumed command of the Quds Force in 2020 when its then-chief Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq, although he does not have the same public profile of his predecessor.

Soleimani was revered in Iran and among its allies in the region, which include Hizbollah, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iraq’s Shia militias.

The Revolutionary Guards have not confirmed whether Ghaani travelled to Beirut recently, although another Iranian commander, Abbas Nilforoushan, was reportedly killed alongside Nasrallah.

Ghaani’s last public appearance was more than a week ago, at a commemoration ceremony for Nasrallah at Hizbollah’s office in Tehran. He was notably absent from Friday prayers in Tehran last week, an event that was unusually led by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He was also missing from a recent ceremony to honour the commander behind the recent strikes on Israel, which involved about 190 ballistic missiles. The head of the Quds Force would have been expected to attend both events.

The Guards have reportedly lost at least 19 members in the 12 months since Hamas launched its attack on Israel, primarily in Syria and all killed by Israeli forces.

If Ghaani has been killed in Lebanon, then it could prompt Iran to consider further strikes against Israel, analysts say.

Iran’s leaders have adopted a defiant stance in the face of rising tensions with Israel and the escalating threat of an all-out Middle East war.

President Masoud Pezeshkian flew to Qatar last week as Iranian airspace was closed due to security fears, while foreign minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Beirut and Syria as a demonstration of solidarity with Hizbollah.

Oil minister Mohsen Paknejad also visited the oilfields and ports in the south of the country, where he promised workers a pay rise, amid speculation that Israel might target Iran’s oil installations in retaliation for the missile strikes.