Tehran [Iran]m, October 8: Deputy commander of Iran's Quds Force, Iraj Masjedi, said on October 7 that Esmail Qaani was in "good health" after reports that the group's commander had lost contact.
"He is healthy and carrying out his activities. Some people asked us to make a statement. That was not necessary," Iranian media quoted Mr. Masjedi as saying.
Reuters reported on October 7 that Esmail Qaani sent a message to a solidarity conference with Palestinian children held in Tehran on October 7, stating that the commander could not attend the event because he was "attending another important meeting".
Earlier, Reuters on October 6 quoted two senior Iranian security officials as saying that Esmail Qaani had been missing since airstrikes in the Lebanese capital Beirut last week. One official said Qaani had been in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh last week.
Qaani arrived in Lebanon after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on September 27. IRGC General Abbas Nilforoushan was also killed in the incident.
Tehran appointed Qaani as head of the military intelligence unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) after the US killed Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in 2020. The Quds Force is believed to have great influence over allied armed groups across the Middle East .
Israel has recently attacked several targets in Dahiyeh against Hezbollah in Lebanon and claimed to have killed several senior Hezbollah commanders, including leader Hassan Nasrallah. His likely successor, Hashem Safieddine, has been missing since October 4 and Hezbollah has not made any announcement about his fate.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
