General Esmail Qaani, 67, is the head of the Quds Force of the Iranian Army, called the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). His name came into the media after last week’s Israeli airstrike on Southern Beirut.
It is said that Qaani has been missing since this airstrike. The Economics Times in a report claimed that Qaani has not been heard from following the strikes, which were aimed at Hezbollah’s stronghold in Lebanon.
The report added that Qaani had traveled to Lebanon after the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in late September. He was reportedly in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, at the time of the attack, which also targeted Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor to Nasrallah. Safieddine has also been unreachable since the airstrikes.
Media reports suggest that Qaani might have been killed in the strikes. However, no official confirmation has been provided by either Iran or Hezbollah.
Qaani has been a key figure in Iran’s military strategy since taking over the Quds Force following the death of his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, in January 2020.
Qaani’s military career began during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, when he fought for the Revolutionary Guards. In 1997, he became the deputy commander of the Quds Force when Soleimani took over as its chief commander. Qaani’s role within the Quds Force included overseeing operations beyond Iran’s eastern borders, specifically in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
